Family Curse
by jimra
Summary: Welcome to a world where Genma and Soun are worth a damn, and all Saotomes bear a curse... What horrors do the True Nekoken training hold for Ranma? To find out, read on.
1. Prologue: How it All Began

Family Curse by jimra

Family Curse

A Ranma 1/2 fanfic by jimra

All characters are owned by Takahashi Rumiko and some other companies, and I make no claim to them in any way. They are used without permission, but I hope no one minds.

Prologue: How it all began

--

Tendo Soun and Saotome Genma sat quietly beside the small campfire. The sleeping form of Happosai, master of the Musabetsu Kakuto Ryu, was lying in a sake-soaked, drunken stupor beside the flames, oblivious to his students' intentions. Simultaneously, Genma and Soun nodded, and Soun quickly splashed his long time friend and companion with the cold water of the fire bucket. The metamorphosis no longer even fazed the stoic martial artist, and a two-meter-tall panda rose where Genma had been sitting.

Moving with the silence only years of devotion to the Art would yield, the two students quickly stuffed their master into one of the many empty sake casks and tied it with both chain and sacred rice rope. Once the cask was secured, the large panda lifted the cask with ease as Soun lit a torch from the flames of the slowly dying campfire.

Leading his friend into the hills with the same silence, born of both fear and reverence for the venerable martial artist and hentai contained within the cask, Soun headed for the cave he and Saotome had chosen for their master's final rest. The rocky ground and steep paths presented no problem for the trained martial artists, and they soon found themselves at the yawning mouth of darkness.

Chosen for its remote location and slightly unstable walls, the cave seemed an ideal place to bury their master and their memories of the terrible things they had done at his behest, and the panda quickly set the cask down for a final treatment.

Soun pulled the small orange blocks from his pocket along with the means to detonate them and quickly attached them to the cask. Once his task was complete, Tendo stepped away from his friend, and wasting neither time nor movement, the panda lifted the cask and threw it into the gaping mouth of the cave in one swift motion.

The two soon-to-be former students knew that they had only a few short minutes to move the sanctified boulder into position before the charges detonated, and they quickly threw all of their considerable strength into the task. The great stone seemed to move with agonizing slowness, but they managed to push it into position with a little time to spare. Tendo, knowing that his friend would rather be human when they said farewell to their beloved and hated master, quickly removed a small thermos from inside his gi and poured the contents over the panda's head. Moments later, his human friend stood by his side once again, and they waited for the explosion that would inevitably rock the mountain that they stood upon.

The two martial artists, stoic as they might be, still covered their ears as the earth shook, and for a moment, a brief look of fear crossed both faces when the boulder they had so carefully consecrated for this very purpose rocked as though it might roll away. However, the shaking ceased before the boulder was able to move any appreciable distance, and the now former students heaved sighs of relief as tears of both joy and sorrow made paths of moisture down their faces.

"At last, Tendo-kun," Genma said in a voice so filled with emotion that it would be impossible to describe. "We are free at last."

Soun answered his friend in kind. "Yes, Saotome-kun. At long last."

The two martial artists turned quietly to the stone that would be a marker for their fallen master and bowed one last time in respect for his teachings and wisdom in the martial arts. Neither former student had wished for this outcome for their master, but it had become apparent that the ancient hentai had to be stopped for the good of all humankind. Especially the female side of the species.

"We are sorry, Master," Genma said in a quiet voice. "We wish there had been another way, but you always refused to see the moral decadence that had consumed your mind. We forgive you of your crimes and pray that you find the rest you deserve."

"Goodbye, Master." Soun's voice almost cracked with emotion as he said his final farewells to the master they had trained under for innumerable years. "We always hoped you would see what you had become and would return to your old ways. I hope that you can forgive this."

Saotome placed a hand on his long time friend's shoulder and led the weeping man away from the tomb. The men had already discussed what they would do once the master had been stopped, and now they would have to go their separate ways for a time. They had trained long and hard, and now they wished to build families in order to secure the future of their art. They had already agreed to meet at the grave of Happosai once more in exactly one year, and then, each would tell the other how they had fared in this latest of quests. However, for the rest of this night, they sat by the fire and drowned their sorrow and happiness alike in what was left of the sake.

--

Over the last year, life had been good to Saotome Genma, and he was presently leading his fiancée, the beautiful, dark-red-haired Nodoka, through the mountains toward his meeting with Tendo Soun. Nodoka was a very traditional woman, and she wore a kimono even into the rugged wilderness that was the mountains of Japan. As a token of their love and their pledge to marry, she carried a long, silk-covered bundle on her back. Genma was the last surviving Saotome of his branch of the clan, and any other relatives were distant enough not to matter. As such, the bundle Nodoka bore into the mountains was the Saotome clan blade, the honor of the clan itself.

As the couple finally approached the campsite where Genma and Soun had sat the night of Happosai's death, Genma spotted a medium-sized tent and a small fire already burning cheerily in the old fire pit. A chill breeze reminded the martial artist that both night and winter were approaching, and he gently urged his fiancée to move with greater speed as now the goal of the long journey from Tokyo was in sight. Nodoka graced him with an indulgent smile, and indeed, she managed to move a bit faster.

Presently, a man emerged from the tent followed by a young, black-haired woman. Tendo Soun raised a hand in greeting, waving enthusiastically, to his old friend and training partner, and Genma returned the wave with equal fervor. The old friends embraced as they reached one another, and no few tears were shed at the meeting. However, there were introductions to be made, and neither man wished to leave the other in the dark regarding the women present at the meeting.

"Saotome-kun! It is so good to see you again!" said Soun in a voice filled with elation.

Genma, responding in kind, said, "Well met, my old friend!" Taking the initiative, Genma began the introductions. "Tendo-kun, I would like to introduce to you my iinazuke, Kino Nodoka. Nodoka-chan, allow me to introduce my long time friend and training partner, Soun."

Soun turned to the traditionally clothed woman and bowed deeply. "I am honored to meet the fiancée of my oldest and dearest friend, Nodoka-san. It is my sincerest wish that the two of you lead a happy and fulfilling life together."

Nodoka responded with her own bow, and replied, "I have long awaited this meeting, and Genma has said nothing but good things about you, Tendo-san. It is I who am honored to meet you."

"You are too kind, Nodoka-san," Soun said happily, and this emotion only increased as he continued. "Saotome-kun, Nodoka-san, please allow me to introduce my wife, Kimiko."

Genma was utterly speechless as Soun continued the introductions, and he barely heard a word of it until Kimiko herself was speaking.

"I am honored to meet you Saotome-san, Nodoka-san," she said in a light voice and a bow. "It is good that old friends stay in touch."

Both Genma and Nodoka returned the bow and stated how they were honored to meet her, and soon, with the formalities completed, the campsite was filled with good-natured laughing and the sounds of stories being told. Genma, with a few additions by Nodoka, told the story of how he had traveled to Tokyo after last seeing his friend, and how he had met his beloved fiancée. Soun and Kimiko responded in kind, telling the story of how they had met and fallen in love.

"I wish you could have been at the ceremony, Saotome-kun," said Soun as he finished his story.

"Don't worry, Tendo-kun," replied the other man. "We knew what we were getting into, going off on our own. I'm sorry I missed it, too, but nothing can diminish the joy I feel at our meeting and your good fortune."

Smiles continued well into the night, and the men continued to talk for some time after the women had retired to the tents. The martial artists spoke of many things, and it seemed as though the year they had spent separated had only strengthened their bonds of friendship. Presently, Genma began speaking of the master.

"Tendo-kun, when do you want to go pay respects to the master?" he asked in a hushed voice.

"Actually, Saotome-kun," Soun replied in an equally quiet voice. "I think now would be the best time."

Genma nodded his head sagely, and without further comment, both men stood and began the short trip from the campsite to the consecrated boulder that marked the master's grave. The trail had changed little in the year since they had buried Master Happosai, and they followed it in the darkness without problem.

The boulder was unchanged from the day they'd left it, cold stone with a sacred rice rope coiled around it, ofuda liberally entwined in the rope's length. According to the Shinto priest from whom they'd bought the small paper wards and the rice rope, together they should hold against a greater oni for at least two hundred years without renewal. Even so, the men quickly checked the rope for fraying and the ofuda for any damage before beginning their prayers; it would not do for the corrupted master to break free of the bindings, regardless of the near certainty that he was dead after a year in the cave.

Once they assured themselves that the tomb was secure, both men bowed deeply and stood in quiet introspection and prayer for some time. Both dwelled upon both the good and bad qualities their master had possessed, and they preferred to remember the strict but kind man they had known before he had become an utter hentai and an enemy of women, though sometimes Genma thought that the master had just been holding back his urges when he was younger. Tears ran from their eyes once more as the pain of what they had been forced to do returned.

After a time, Genma turned to his old friend. "Tendo-kun, I just had an idea. Don't you think that the Master would have wanted the schools joined once more?"

Soun thought about that for a moment. "I suppose you're right, Saotome-kun, but I'm not sure how we can accomplish that."

"Ah," replied Genma, his voice increasingly excited. "I have the perfect idea. If we can, let us have our children marry, and join both our houses and our schools!"

"That's brilliant, Saotome-kun. It's a deal!"

The two martial artists stood before the tomb for a while longer, but the somber mood had left them. So, having paid their respects to the master, Soun and Genma turned and left the monument. The stone stood cold and solid, the sacred rice rope unbroken.

--

Genma waved goodbye to his old friend in a somewhat tearful fashion, but that was to be expected. They had spent only a week together before the two martial artists went their separate ways once more, and he had a somewhat difficult duty to perform. Though, for now, Genma was content with the knowledge of where his friend had taken up residence. It seemed that Kimiko had inherited a traditional house in the Nerima ward of Tokyo, and Tendo was planning to build a dojo on the grounds to teach the Musabetsu Kakuto Ryu and a few other styles. Secure in the knowledge of his friend's address, Genma knew that he would never lose touch so completely for so long again.

As the other young couple passed out of sight, Genma began to reflect on his duty—that is, his duty as a Saotome. It is hard to forget that you have a shape-shifting curse as your family legacy when all it took was some water to trigger the change. Thus far, Genma had kept Nodoka blissfully unaware of his curse and of her duty should she decide to actually marry him after what he had to tell her.

The young martial artist sobered rapidly as his thoughts entered that area of his memory, and he remembered, as a child, about gaining his curse. His father, just another link in a chain of Saotome martial artists stretching back to feudal Japan and his clan's samurai traditions, had explained that it was every Saotome's duty and birthright to claim another form. This included those that married into the clan, and that was the part that Nodoka would dislike even more than his ability to transform into a panda. Steeling himself for what he considered to be near certain rejection, he called to Nodoka.

"Nodoka-chan," he said quietly. "Could you join me by the fire?"

The smiling face of his fiancée emerged from the remaining tent as she called, "What do you need, Gen-chan?"

Genma grimaced slightly at the name, but since they were in private, he had no real cause to be upset. Thus, he covered the grimace by setting two kettles onto the fire.

"Please," he said politely. "Join me by the fire, and bring some tea."

--

After hearing Genma repeat his request, Nodoka, traditional as she had been raised, did not question her husband-to-be, and shortly there after was sitting quietly beside Genma. The man she loved did not speak as he pulled the two kettles from the coals and used one to make the tea, and she thanked him when he handed her a steaming cup.

For a long moment, Genma sat in quiet introspection over his cup. He stared into the green depths of the tea, taking occasional sips, and Nodoka waited patiently for him to clear his mind and speak.

"No-chan," he said after some time, his quiet voice seeming loud after the long silence. "Please know that I love you with all of my heart, and nothing will ever change that."

At this, Nodoka was beginning to worry. Genma rarely spoke this way, and when he did, it was usually regarding something in his past. Something that he believed that she would not like or not approve of. However, traditional or not, she loved the man beside her, and that was evident when she spoke. "Gen-chan, please do not doubt that I feel the same for you."

"I do not know if you will feel that way after what I have to say, but I thank you nonetheless," he replied, his voice troubled and his eyes averted.

Becoming very worried indeed, Nodoka decided that he would tell her what he wanted her to know in his own time. Any rushing on her part would only drive the man to delay longer, but still, she wished that he would just spit it out.

Genma was silent for but a short time before he began again. "I will not lie to you, No-chan. There is more to marrying me, marrying a Saotome, than the simple vows and ceremony. My family holds a curse as both duty and birthright, and anyone who joins the clan, through any means, must take part in this curse."

Nodoka frowned slightly as he stopped for a moment. She wasn't sure what Genma was talking about, but she knew that she could and would walk through hell barefoot to be with him. However, before she could become angry with him for doubting her love and loyalty, Genma continued in that same troubled tone.

"First, before you see the curse, I will tell you of how I acquired it. When I was a boy of only five, my father and I left home on a training mission. His purpose, as stated to my mother when we left, was martial training and preparation for the duty that I must fulfill as a member of the clan. We traveled all over Japan as I learned all manner of fighting techniques, and I learned to love the Art. Just before my tenth birthday, we left Japan for China. We traveled for some time, but in the end we entered the Training Ground of Accursed Springs, Jusenkyo.

"The valley was covered in mist, and all I could see were the bamboo poles rising out of the dense fog. As we approached, a man, known as the Jusenkyo Guide, greeted us. After a quick talk, he welcomed my father back, and invited us to stay with him for the duration of our training.

"My father and the Guide spent several days telling me of the springs, and of the curse given to any who enter their mystical waters. Later, in the right of passage to enter the Saotome clan as an adult, I battled my father over the springs."

Genma paused a moment, obviously collecting his thoughts, and Nodoka sat, staring in wonder as the man she loved opened up to her as never before. She remained quiet and patient as the martial artist meditated for a few moments, and then Genma finally continued.

"The result of falling into a spring is a shape shifting curse that triggers when one comes into contact with water; that is, every Saotome has a 'cursed form,' which is activated by a splash of cold water. The curse can be reversed, though not cured, by a splash of hot water."

Nodoka stared at the man she loved for a moment in utter amazement, and quickly, before he could lose his nerve, Genma said, "My cursed form is a giant panda, and I shall now demonstrate it for you."

Grabbing the fire bucket, Genma doused himself as quickly as he could manage, which was very quick indeed since he had trained as a martial artist all his life. Nodoka drew back as the metamorphosis took hold, and rather than the man she had given her heart to, a two meter tall panda was now sitting next to her. Instinctually, she drew back in fright, and the panda, with a sad look in its eyes, reached for the kettle of hot water. However, Nodoka had other plans, and intercepted the large paw.

"Gen-chan," she said quietly, as she pulled herself into the panda's lap. Her arms encircled as much of the panda as she could manage, and she buried her face in the soft fur covering his chest. Hesitantly, the panda's fuzzy arms encircled Nodoka, and they sat that way for a long time, Genma simply holding his fiancée.

Finally, Genma lifted Nodoka off of his lap and set her gently back in her original seat. He reached over to the kettle he had set aside earlier and poured the warm liquid over his form. The water was only barely hot enough to trigger the change after so long, but in a moment, Genma sat before Nodoka in his human form.

"Gen-chan," Nodoka said before he could speak. "I don't love your body. I love you and you alone. The outside form doesn't matter as long as the spirit within is you,"

The love in her eyes was apparent, and she was almost smiling as she spoke. Still, there was something in his eyes that told her that he had said more than she thought he had, and as she went over all his words that night, something tickled her thoughts in a somewhat unpleasant way, like she was missing a meaning somewhere.

"No-chan," he said, again uncertain. "Do you remember what I said about the curse being both duty and birthright to the Saotome clan?"

"Of course," she replied, almost brightly.

"Well," said Genma, becoming more hesitant. "That means all Saotomes must take part in the curse that is our heritage."

"Well, of course I understand..." Nodoka began, but she trailed off as the meaning became clear. "You mean that I'll have to go to this Jusenkyo place and become cursed myself should I wish to marry you, ne?"

Genma sighed heavily; she was almost correct. "You do not have to do so before we wed, should you still wish to, but you must before you can be accepted as a Saotome."

"This will take some thought, Gen-chan," replied Nodoka. "Allow me to think while we travel."

"Travel? Where?"

"To Jusenkyo, of course."

--

Two months, one wedding ceremony, one plane ride, three bus rides, and a long hike later, the fog-shrouded valley of Jusenkyo presented itself before the young newlyweds, Genma and Nodoka. Nodoka watched her husband as a small smile of contentment crossed his weathered face, and then, she looked nervously toward the dark bamboo poles protruding from the ever-present mists. Genma set an easy pace as they moved down the winding trail, and as he did, Nodoka could see his confidence growing.

"Love," he said. "You have one great advantage over one born or adopted into the clan. Have I told you what that is yet?"

Nodoka thought for a moment and answered, "No, I don't believe you have, anata."

"The great advantage you hold, by marrying into the clan, is the right to choose your curse."

Nodoka mulled over this information as they made there way toward the Guide's hut, the rest of the trip made in silence. As they approached the hut, a short, stocky man exited the single door and began to walk in their direction. Genma's smile widened and he called out in the Jusendo dialect of Mandarin, "Nihao, Jusenkyo Guide!"

The man seemed puzzled at first, and well he might be; who would think that an obviously Japanese man would speak fluent Mandarin Chinese, and the local dialect no less? Soon, however, the puzzled look melted into one of happiness.

"Nihao, Saotome heir!" the guide called back enthusiastically in the same language. "Do you bring a potential wife to receive your clan's birthright?"

"We have already married," Genma replied with a smirk when they had reached conversational distance. "We are here simply to complete the ceremony."

The guide's face lit with greater happiness, but regardless of his delighted mood, he still intoned formally, "Then welcome back to Jusenkyo, Saotome heir."

Nodoka, not knowing Chinese, much less this esoteric Mandarin dialect, was somewhat lost, and she asked in Japanese, "Anata, what is he saying, and for that matter, what are you saying?"

Both Genma and the Guide looked somewhat embarrassed, and the Guide apologized first, "Apologies, Ma'am. Here in Jusenkyo, we no get many visitors what cannot speak Chinese, and it has been long time since Saotomes have come. Here, Ma'am, you come to Cursed Training Grounds: Jusenkyo. Welcome!"

"I'm sorry, love," said an apologetic Genma after the guide finished speaking. "I became caught up in the moment."

Nodoka first turned to the Guide and thanked him for the welcome, and then assuaged her husband's guilt with a kiss. The Jusenkyo Guide, respectful of their privacy, looked away.

"Please Sir, Ma'am," said the Guide after a few moments. "Come inside. You must be too, too tired from long journey! Please, come rest."

Both Genma and Nodoka thanked him for his hospitality and followed him into the hut.

--

Night had fallen over the peaceful valley of Jusenkyo, and Nodoka was asleep on the Guide's only bed, generously offered to the Saotome couple. Genma and the Guide stood under the light of the moon and looked out across the multitude of peaceful springs, quietly contemplating what would begin the following day.

"Have you explained the process to her yet?" asked the Guide in Mandarin, puffing contentedly on his long-stemmed pipe in the cool evening air. "She must understand what rights, responsibilities, and risks she assumes,"

"I have explained some of it," answered Genma. "I was saving the rest for tomorrow morning, after she's had some time to sleep."

The Guide showed a small smile around his pipe stem. "Yes, Saotome heir. That is probably best."

The two continued to contemplate the springs late into the night, and the silence of Jusenkyo allowed them the peace to do so.

--

As the morning sunbeams lanced through the window over the Guide's bed, Genma was honestly still trying to sleep, the importance of the day lost in his weary mind. His arms were still curled around Nodoka as she finally woke, and she snuggled closer to wake him with a kiss.

Once the best type of wake up call was done, Genma dragged himself from bed, and while Nodoka watched, he began his morning training on the bamboo poles protruding from the Jusenkyo pools. He exhilarated in the absolute freedom of leaping from pole to pole while performing complex kata; the pure balance of the moment was a wonderful thing.

Nodoka, still watching from the edge of the training grounds, began to worry that her husband might acquire another curse from the pools, but the Guide, as though he could read her mind, put those worries to rest.

"You worry," said the Guide. "Do not. Once touched by springs, no affect ever again. Is true, no even cause change in original curse."

Nodoka let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding, and began to watch Genma in a different light. The fluid grace of his movements and the complexity of his combinations were like mid-air poetry-in-motion. He almost seemed to be dancing to a tune few could hear: the very heartbeat of the universe itself, and that, in and of itself, was enough to lend a mesmerizing effect to the kata he performed.

As his morning training session drew to a close, Genma danced back toward the Guide's hut; however, when he noticed Nodoka watching, he became unnerved. The result was a dunking in one of over a hundred springs in the Training Ground.

The Guide walked up and, with a look of mock severity, said, "Too bad, you fall in Maoniichuan, spring of drown cat. There, very tragic story of cat who drown in spring one thousand two hundred year ago."

Genma couldn't help laughing as he sat in the cold, knee-deep water, and the Guide joined him in the hilarity of the moment. However, the seriousness of what was to happen today sobered his laughter after a moment. The Guide threw a towel to him as he climbed out of the Maoniichuan, and he looked toward his wife as he dried himself.

Nodoka, having witnessed the entire event, had laughed right along with the men; however, she was the only one still trying to hold back the crystal sound. Both Genma and the Guide had become serious, and this went a long way to ending her need for laughter.

Genma solemnly walked to his wife and took her hand. "The Guide has reminded me that I must make everything about the curse clear before you accept becoming a Saotome."

Nodoka nodded, and Genma began to explain the springs in a clear, serious voice. "Each of these springs has had a tragedy happen there: something drowned to imbue the spring with the essence of anything from a grasshopper to a human. Some springs affect only the body or mind, and some affect both, but there is no need to worry about not knowing what lies within. The Guide knows all of the springs and all of their effects, so if you have any questions, feel free to ask.

"Now, you must understand that you will have little to no control over the transformation, that it is the temperature of the water that will determine your form. You will also seem to attract water after you've acquired a curse. This isn't an effect of the springs...I think…I think it's some sort of cosmic law of irony. Do you have any questions, my love?"

Nodoka thought for a moment, and then asked a question Genma hadn't thought of before. "What will this mean for our children?"

Genma, not having considered this before, looked to the Guide for answers.

"Children no affected by curse," said the Guide. "Unless both parents have curse of same species. Also, female lock in form of conception for duration of pregnancy and for some week after."

Nodoka let out a small sigh of relief. She had been worried that her children would be cursed from birth, but when she thought about it, she supposed it wouldn't matter. The children would be Saotomes, and consequently, they would also have to journey here and be cursed to become adult members of the clan.

"Gen-chan?" she said, her voice small though not weak. "I've always wanted to know what it would be like to be a fox."

Genma smiled at his wife and held her close, but the moment couldn't last. She had made her decision and the Guide was already leading the way to the Spring of Drown Fox. Genma held her hand in a tight, comforting grip as he followed the Guide, and Nodoka walked bravely forward.

After walking nearly halfway around the whole of Jusenkyo, the Guide turned and headed directly toward the center. Genma and Nodoka followed, and Nodoka became more and more nervous. Finally, the Guide stopped and waved an arm toward a pool; still, he did not speak.

"Do you have any questions?" Genma spoke quietly into her ear. "Are you sure you want to do this? That this is the right one?"

Taking hold of herself and her queasy stomach, Nodoka looked into her husband's eyes, those blue chips of ice that she had fallen for first, and she said, "No questions, and yes. I am ready."

Genma said nothing, but his small smile was enough encouragement as he released her hand. Nodoka took a deep breath, and the Guide, once again seeming to read her mind, turned away. Nodoka shed her kimono and carefully laid the silk-wrapped Saotome clan blade atop the neatly folded pile of clothing. With one last look at Genma, his cheeks still showing a slight blush at the sight of her she noted with some amusement, she slowly descended into the pool. The water swirled about her as though a strong current in a river, and the moment she reached an ankle depth of water, she was swept into the center of the now churning pool.

The sensation of the transformation was nothing like she expected: a feeling of cold numbness filled her body as the change began. Then her body began to shift. Bones shrank and changed shape, muscles became wiry and melded themselves to the new size and shape of the bones, and soft fur grew over her body as the hair on the top of her head became short. The most interesting feeling was the awareness of suddenly having a tail. In truth, the change occurred in the span of mere moments, less than the blink of an eye, but Nodoka did not believe that she would ever become used to the strange sensations.

Suddenly, strong hands were drawing her slowly from the waters of her rebirth as a fox, and she looked up to see Genma's face. He was holding her gently and petting her with a soothing hand. After a few more moments, the Jusenkyo Guide stepped forward with a small bottle, and after giving it to Genma, he left the young couple and strode away from the Spring of Drown Fox without looking back.

Genma set her on the ground with all the caring of a father to his child, and then he poured the contents of the bottle over Nodoka's lithe form. Again, the feeling of the transformation overcame her, and she was once more human, if naked. Immediately, Nodoka wrapped her arms around Genma and, as he whispered quiet, soothing nothings into her ear, held him close. One thing came through all the nonsensical whisperings, and she smiled as Genma said, "Welcome to our clan, Saotome Nodoka."

--

Genma and Nodoka spent several more days with the Guide before taking their leave of Jusenkyo, and Nodoka learned a great many things about the Cursed Training Ground and the area around it. Nodoka also proved to be a quick linguistics study, and she had reached a minimum level of proficiency with the local dialect of Mandarin Chinese. While not enough for a real conversation, she could get her point across.

After leaving Jusenkyo, the couple did not travel directly back to Japan, but rather, they took their time and treated the trip as the honeymoon they had never shared. Finally, after three months of wandering China, the couple returned to Japan and their modest home in the Minato ward of Tokyo.

As both lived in Tokyo, if far apart by city standards, Soun and Genma made certain that their families managed a good deal of time together. When they had arrived back in Tokyo, Genma was pleasantly surprised that Soun's wife, Kimiko, was pregnant.

The families remained close as time wore on, and Kimiko gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, who the proud new parents named Kasumi. A little over a year later, Kimiko became pregnant once again, and though Genma and Nodoka were happy for their friends, they were secretly envious of them, as the two Saotomes remained childless. Nodoka would often travel to the Tendo home to help take care of little Kasumi while Kimiko was pregnant with her second child, and Genma and Soun would go out for drinks.

Finally, Kimiko gave birth to another girl, this one named Nabiki. Both families shared in the celebrations of a new child.

Only four months after Nabiki was born, Nodoka finally became pregnant, much to both her and Genma's joy. This happiness spread to the Tendo home, and scarcely a month later, Kimiko was pregnant once more. The two women exulted in the event, and the men celebrated twice as hard. The months passed, and Nodoka approached her due date….

--

Author's Notes:

This covers a lot of ground, certainly, but do we really want to know more? Rewriting the existing chapters is hopefully the gateway to writing new chapters, and I do have a number of chapters outlined for this fic (something like eighteen, I think). Later, all.


	2. Chapter 1: Here's Ranma

Family Curse by jimra

Family Curse

A Ranma 1/2 fanfic by jimra

All characters are owned by Takahashi Rumiko-sama, and we should all bow down and thank her for creating the Ranmaverse! Oh yeah, a few other companies also hold ownership, but I don't think they'll mind someone borrowing them for non-profit uses, even if Nabiki would.

Chapter One: Here's Ranma! And other matters, of course...

--

Saotome Genma felt like passing out again as he watched his wife go through another contraction; the amount of pain was staggering. His beautiful Nodoka had even refused drugs to ensure that their son wouldn't be harmed. Thus, Genma had passed out not less than three times over the past four hours, and his hand was bandaged from where he had tried to hold hers through one of the contractions.

Resolving to be strong and not lose consciousness, Genma took a deep breath. The doctors had said she would not come out of labor for some time yet, and Genma wanted to be there for the birth of his son. It seemed a bit like cheating to him, but Nodoka had insisted on knowing her child's gender after a routine ultrasound. They had already given their boy a name: Ranma.

Nodoka's cry of pain as another contraction took hold made Genma's eyes unfocused slightly as he fought to avoid fainting. 'Real men do not faint!' his thoughts yelled at the instinctive action, but those actions paid little heed. Genma awoke on the floor before he realized that consciousness had left him.

The only thing that made Genma realize how long he was out was the presence of a doctor and nurse at the end of Nodoka's bed. "Push, Saotome-san!" called the Doctor, and Genma almost returned to the void of unconsciousness. Instead, the martial artist managed to stand and began encouraging his wife.

Seconds passed like hours as their child was born, and Genma had to fight for his consciousness during this most important of events. But he did manage to remain there for his wife.

--

Finally, after nearly a day and a half in the hospital, Nodoka felt the small weight of her first-born son against her breast. Her body exhausted, she could do nothing but hold the sleeping child in absolute happiness.

Nodoka glanced at the snoring figure in the chair next to the bed. Genma looked almost as exhausted as she had once the birth was completed, and now he had been asleep for nearly half an hour. As she was still gazing at her husband and feeling the wonderful, tiny weight on her breast, a nurse spoke to her in a quiet voice.

"Saotome-san, we need to take Ranma to the nursery for a check-up, and you need to rest."

With a sigh, Nodoka relinquished her son to the careful ministrations of the hospital staff. Honestly, she was utterly exhausted, and she drifted to sleep very quickly.

--

"No!"

Nodoka sighed once she'd finally caught the energy-filled two-year-old bundle of trouble that was her son. He only seemed to know three words so far, but he certainly could run. As she attempted to dress the arm-full of boy, she wondered when the "terrible twos" would finally end.

Finally dressed in the tiny gi, Nodoka allowed her son to run into the back yard, squealing wordlessly. Looking into the back yard to where Genma waited in his own gi, she couldn't suppress a small smile. Ranma was so much like his father.

"Ready to begin training for the day, son?" Genma asked with a grin at the small boy. Ranma responded with a vigorous nod.

Nodoka turned away as the two began to stretch. Almost before he could walk, Ranma had been trying to mimic Genma's motions while he performed kata, and once he did take his first steps, Genma had insisted on training him. Of course, Nodoka kept an eye on the situation to make sure her husband didn't try anything too dangerous or rough, but honestly, she worried very little about her son in these training sessions.

Hours of housework and cooking later, Genma and Ranma entered the house. Both were covered in sweat and grass stains, and Nodoka quickly pushed father and son into the bathroom to clean up for dinner. When she returned to kitchen to finish dinner, one thought certainty predominated her mind: Ranma was going to be the best practitioner of the Art the world had ever seen!

--

Nodoka held her three-year-old son's hand as the train slowed to a halt. Her husband sat on the other side of Ranma in his usual white gi, and she wore a silk kimono. Their son was dressed in an outfit that she had chosen for him specifically: a red silk Chinese shirt done up with wooden pegs for buttons along with loose black pants tied at the ankles. Flexible black shoes, almost like slippers, completed the ensemble, and Genma had braided his hair into a short pigtail.

"Furinkan station, Nerima ward," called a voice from a speaker in the ceiling of the car, and the small family made ready to leave. This would be the first time they had brought Ranma to visit the Tendo family at their home in Nerima, and Nodoka was excited to be able to show off her son to the Tendos, especially Kimiko.

Upon exiting the train, Genma began to lead his family through the maze of streets that was Furinkan. Since Japanese neighborhood streets do not have names and the house numbers are sequenced in the order the homes were built, mother and son had to depend on the balding martial artist's memory. Luckily for all concerned, Genma's memory proved to be accurate, and soon, three people announced themselves outside the genkan of the Tendo home.

"Saotome-kun!" called Soun in greeting to his old friend from his position, waiting outside the gatehouse, and he wasted no time in pulling the other man into a hug. "It's been so long!"

"That it has, Tendo-kun," the other man replied as he returned the show of affection. "But you'll find the wait was worth it. Let me introduce my son, Ranma."

Soun released his friend and looked toward Nodoka, or more specifically, at the small three-year-old whose hand she held. The boy returned Soun's look with one of confidence, and a smile couldn't help but form on the Tendo patriarch's face as he saw that the boy was already learning the Art. It was obvious in the way he stood and how his blue-grey eyes never averted from Soun's gaze.

Nodoka leaned over and spoke to her son. "Ranma," she said in a bright voice, "This is Tendo-ojisan. Won't you introduce yourself to him?"

Ranma smiled at his mother and nodded. Following the Japanese politeness that his mother had taught him, Ranma bowed to Soun and said, "How do you do, Tendo-ojisan? I am Saotome Ranma. I am pleased to meet you."

Tendo could hardly keep his smile from growing as he saw how polite the boy was, and he responded in kind. After completing his introduction to Ranma, Soun beckoned the family of his best friend and training partner into his home. Inside, Genma and Nodoka were led into the tearoom where Kimiko sat with her three daughters behind a set for the tea ceremony. The woman and three girls immediately bowed formally to their guests, and not to fail in politeness, the other family returned their bow.

The three girls and their mother were dressed in formal, silk kimono, each with her hair carefully pulled into the traditional Japanese bun. Their colorful kimono seemed to accentuate both the beauty of the mother and the cuteness of the children. Kasumi had a bright smile on her face as she sat to the left of her mother while Nabiki, being a bit more serious, only smiled slightly while sitting on Kasumi's left. The youngest of the girls, Akane, sat on her mother's right, but she seemed a bit afraid of so many new people. The youngest Tendo clung tightly to her mother's arm after her bow was completed.

Immediate formalities completed, Kimiko smiled brightly and greeted her friends in a more affectionate manner. "Nodoka, Genma; It's been so long since you've visited us."

Nodoka returned the Tendo matriarch's smile and said, "I see your daughters have grown quite a bit since I last saw them. How are you, Kasumi? Nabiki? Akane? Do you remember your auntie?"

Kasumi immediately recognized Nodoka and practically flew into an enthusiastic hug with the older woman, "Auntie! I missed you!"

Nabiki also seemed to recognize the Saotome matriarch, but she greeted Nodoka in a more reserved fashion than her older sister. "It is good to see you again, auntie," she said quietly; she was very well spoken for a four-year-old. "We missed you."

Unlike her sisters, little Akane only scooted a little closer to her mother. The little girl didn't know what was going on, and she drew what comfort she could from her mother. Kimiko, noticing Akane's reluctance to greet Nodoka in a more familiar way, leaned over to comfort her daughter.

"Akane," she whispered gently into her youngest's ear. "You don't need to be afraid of these people. They have been my friends since before Kasumi was born."

The soothing words seemed to placate the girl, and she relaxed her grip on the older woman's arm. As Akane relaxed, Nodoka knelt down to look her in the eyes.

"The last time I saw you," she said with a smile, "was just after you were born. I'm not surprised you don't remember your auntie."

Timidly, Akane looked into Nodoka's eyes. Seeing the tender kindness and sincerity in the older woman's steady gaze, she slowly said, "Auntie?"

Nodoka's smile brightened as Akane finally released her mother's arm, and the older woman pulled the little girl into a gentle hug. Akane returned the hug a moment later, finally relaxing.

--

While Nodoka was getting reacquainted with his family, Soun stood to the side of the tearoom with Genma and Ranma. As the emotional scene unfolded, the Tendo patriarch spoke quietly with his oldest friend and training partner.

"So, Saotome-kun," he said, just above a whisper. "Have you started teaching your son the Art?"

Genma smiled at the question; it was just like his friend to think of the Art first. "Of course, Tendo-kun. He has great potential and is already well on his way to becoming the heir to the Saotome-style Musabetsu Kakuto Ryu."

Tendo laughed quietly at his friend's enthusiasm, knowing that the boy couldn't possibly be that far along. However, Soun couldn't contradict Genma's assessment of the boy's potential; he had seen it in Ranma's steady gaze, an amazing amount of confidence in a three-year-old.

As for Ranma, he was quietly watching his mother hug the Tendo sisters, paying no attention to the fathers' discussion. The three-year-old boy hadn't met very many other children, and being an only child, he had little to no experience with girls. He did have what his mother and father had taught him, but their lessons seemed to contradict each other.

His mother had told him that girls were equals but opposites; that they were the other half that made a whole. They thought, acted, and, in general, were different from boys, but that was a good thing. A girl could do anything a boy could do, but both boys and girls could inherently do certain things better than the other. His father, on the other hand, taught him that girls were wonderful but fragile beings to be loved and cherished. In his father's view, a woman should never put herself in the position to be hurt, and a man should never, under any circumstances, harm those of the feminine side of the species. Ranma didn't know which view was correct, and seeing the three young daughters of the Tendo family was only making him more confused.

The young heir to the Saotome name was so absorbed in his thoughts that he didn't notice his mother approach. In fact, when she rested a hand gently on his shoulder, the young martial artist leapt clear to the ceiling and clung there for a moment. A hush fell over the room as all eyes tracked the pigtailed boy's flight and inverted perch, but after a moment, Nodoka burst into laughter, shortly followed by the other occupants of the room.

Looking slightly annoyed, Ranma dropped from where he had been hanging, but a pair of arms intercepted his fall to the floor. Nodoka caught her falling son and pulled him into a brief hug, though she was still laughing a bit.

"I'm sorry I scared you, son," she said, smiling, and Ranma's annoyance had no chance of survival against his mother's kind face. He even chuckled a bit himself.

As the laughter finally drew to a close, Nodoka turned to Kimiko and the Tendo sisters and set Ranma down before her.

"Girls," she began. "I want you to meet my son. Ranma, this is Kimiko-obasan and her daughters: Kasumi, Nabiki, and Akane."

Ranma immediately bowed to the four women who stood before him and said, formally, "Hello, Kimiko-obasan, Kasumi-san, Nabiki-san, Akane-san. I am Saotome Ranma. I'm pleased to meet you."

Kimiko smiled as she heard the polite introduction and quickly replied in kind, followed closely by Kasumi's and Nabiki's. Akane shyly stayed half hidden behind her mother as she bowed her own greeting, her words an almost unintelligible whisper.

"Well," said Kimiko to the entire room. "Now that we've all been reintroduced, I would like to offer the hospitality of the Tendo home to the Saotome clan. Will you do us the honor of joining us in the tea ceremony?"

With that, Kimiko returned to where she had been sitting when Saotomes had arrived. Understanding the formality of the question, Nodoka quickly sat on the opposite side of the tea set and bowed to her host. "Of course we will join you. The Tendo clan honors us."

As the others took their places, Kimiko began the ceremony.

--

"That tea ceremony was excellent, Kimiko-chan," said Genma as the adults sat around the low table. The ceremony, which had lasted two and a half hours, had indeed been beautiful, but the children had had a hard time appreciating the symbolism involved. Now they were all outside getting to know one another while they left the adults to talk.

"Thank you, Genma-kun," replied Kimiko. "The fact that you all enjoyed it only makes me happier that I took the time to learn the formal ceremony."

Choruses of appreciation continued to be directed at Kimiko for her flawless performance of the ancient Japanese tradition, and not a few compliments were paid to Nodoka for her correct responses. The men also thanked their wives quietly for helping them through the ceremony; neither Genma nor Soun knew more than the most basic of tea ceremonies, and it was only through the subtle guidance of their respective mates that they were able to perform the formal ceremony without disrupting the atmosphere. By the end of the complements, both women positively glowed with pride, and everyone around the table was beaming happily.

The group of adults continued to reminisce about times past, and eventually they came to the night when the women had first met. Thinking of this, Soun decided that it was time to bring up Genma and his idea.

"Ladies," Soun began. "Genma and I have been discussing an idea for a number of years now, and we would like your thoughts on the matter."

Kimiko and Nodoka, both genuinely curious about what their husbands had been talking about, responded in unison. "Of course, we will help in any way we can."

"Actually," Genma took up the conversation for his once training partner, "we feel that we have done you both a disservice by not telling you sooner."

This only increased the ladies' apparent curiosity, and Genma continued. "On the night that you first met, Tendo and I went to visit the Master's grave to pay our respects. While there, we had an idea that we thought inspiration direct from the kami."

Genma paused for a moment to assess the reactions he was getting from the women. Nodoka was smiling at him, encouragingly, while Kimiko looked quite interested. Judging that this was good, the Tendo patriarch nodded for Genma to continue with his story. "When we were forced to stop the master," at this point, Genma's voice took on a tone of sadness, "we divided the Musabetsu Kakuto Ryu into two schools: the Saotome Ryu, specializing in aerial combat, and the Tendo Ryu, specializing in ground combat. We knew that the master wouldn't want the school divided like that, but he trained each of us in the two separate fighting styles, intending us to train each other once we became masters of our own."

Genma paused once more, but it was only to take a sip from his tea. The ladies hung on his every word at this point, knowing how important the Art and the Master were to their husbands, at least, the Master before he had degenerated into the greatest hentai the world had ever seen. After contemplating the depths of his tea for a moment, Genma continued. "Since the Master never would have wanted to school divided, we thought of a way to combine it once more."

Genma took a deep breath before he said the final part of their plan. Soun believed that Genma was as certain as he was that they should not have kept their wives in the dark for so long about this, and he didn't want either Nodoka or Kimiko to be upset with them. However, he knew that this had to be told, and he would not shirk his duty to his wife. The head of the Tendo clan nodded confidence to his friend. As for the women, every second Genma delayed in telling them the idea seemed an added torture in Soun's eyes, and they were definitely beginning to tire of his pauses.

"The idea that we have been discussing," said Genma after another sip of tea, "is to marry Ranma to one of Tendo-kun's children, and there by recombine the schools in their offspring."

No one moved for a moment as the wives of the masters of the Musabetsu Kakuto Ryu digested the information Genma had supplied. The silence was palpable. Finally, Nodoka spoke. "Genma," she said, a bit of the steel of the Saotome blade entering her voice. "I will not have Ranma married against his will. If he chooses a Tendo as his wife, I will happily accept the arrangement, but he will not be forced."

At the same time, Kimiko spoke to her husband. "Soun, I understand that the Art is important to you, but I will not have my children marrying unwillingly. I would love for Ranma to marry one of our daughters, but I will not allow this wedding to be forced."

Hearing both statements, Soun responded in kind. "Of course not, ladies," he said. "We only think that they should be encouraged to marry. We have nothing but the best intentions for the children of both our families."

"Just remember, husband," said Kimiko as she fingered the silver cross around her neck. "My bible states that 'the road to hell is paved with good intentions.' I will not accept you're doing more than encouraging."

"Genma," said Nodoka in an equally serious tone. "We may not have the same beliefs, but I agree with Kimiko-chan. You and Soun-kun cannot do more than encourage the children to wed."

Soun took a deep breath before answering his wife. "Love, I swear to you, upon my honor and that of the Tendo clan, that I will do no more than encourage the marriage."

Kimiko was happy with this response, knowing how important giri was to her husband, but Nodoka continued to stare at her silent husband. "Genma?" she said in a voice filled with steel.

Genma stared into the depths of his tea as he seemed to wrestle with this internal conflict. Tendo knew that his friend honestly believed that the marriage, if arranged, would be best for Ranma. Soun also knew that Genma thought his children were a wonderful group of girls, and he loved each as though he were their father. Eventually, he looked up, struggling with his words. "No-chan," Genma said in a voice choked with emotion. "If that is what you think, I can do no less than honor your wishes… upon my honor and that of the Saotome name."

Nodoka smiled at her husband's acquiescence, and she said, "Very well, husband. I will accept this arrangement and once more put my support behind you."

Kimiko, taking Nodoka's lead, also answered her husband. "I, too, will accept the arranged marriage under that condition. To be honest, I would love to have Ranma for a son."

Both husbands smiled and embraced their wives. The worst of the discussion was over, and now, the only thoughts needed to be discussed were details.

--

The house outside Sapporo in Hokkaido was much smaller than the Saotome home in Minato, but Nodoka's five-year-old son didn't seem to mind. Genma had been training the boy hard for the past few months, but that was just in preparation for their training journey. While Nodoka hated the idea of losing her son to years of training in the Musabetsu Kakuto Ryu, she had known this type of problem would come to pass.

Nodoka looked out of the kitchen window to see her husband sparring with Ranma, and she almost couldn't hold back the tears. She did trust Genma, but for Ranma to be away from her for months or even years at a time was almost too much for her to bear. Even with her love and dedication to her husband, she could not, in good conscience, allow him to raise their son alone without some assurances that he would raise him to be a proper Japanese man.

That thought brought her back to the small slip of paper inside her kimono, and she drew it out to read it once more. Reading the contents of the contract, her eyes teared up once more.

Genma had promised the he would raise their son correctly and to be a 'man among men' or that he would commit seppuku for his failure, and now, Nodoka could do no less than honor the contract. The thought of being her husband's second sent a chill of dread through the traditional Japanese woman, but she knew, with every fiber of her being, that she was bound to fulfill the contract should he fail.

Once Nodoka replaced the letter and dried her eyes, she reflected on the good points of her life and family. Genma's father had taken him from his mother for the entirety of the man's childhood, and her husband's parents had both died during that training trip. His mother never saw him again after the age of five.

Genma had promised her that he would bring Ranma back at least once a year, but Nodoka still feared that what happened to Genma's father would befall her husband. In the sixth year of Genma's training trip, the martial artist's father was killed while trying to save villagers trapped in a collapsed mine. Genma had become emotionally unresponsive until a certain venerable martial arts master had found the boy. Happosai decided to train the boy, but the ancient man flatly refused to bring Genma back to his mother until he judged the boy worthy of being called a disciple of the Musabetsu Kakuto Ryu. And so, Genma's mother died before he could return to her.

Nodoka pulled herself from thoughts of her husband's childhood as she noticed the rice about to burn, and she quickly wiped the tears from her eyes before calling her small family into the house for lunch.

--

The day had finally come; Nodoka watched as Genma and her just barely six-year-old son hefted their packs. Genma had delayed for as long as thought possible before leaving, but there was only so much Genma could teach his heir in a family and home environment. So now, Ranma and Genma were to begin their training journey so that Ranma could become the heir to the Saotome-style Musabetsu Kakuto Ryu in full as well as name.

Nodoka followed her husband and son to the front door of the house, all three walking slowly. Finally, the two martial artists turned to the most important woman in their lives.

"Mom," said Ranma in a slightly choked voice. "Don't worry about me. I'll make you proud of me."

Nodoka knelt in front of her young son and enveloped him in a tight hug. With a kiss on the forehead, she said, "I know you will, son. I love you."

Ranma returned his mother's hug with equal fervor and whispered, "I love you too, Mom."

Ranma quickly turned and walked outside so that his mother wouldn't see his tears, and Nodoka couldn't help but smile as her son tried to be a man. Genma, of course, knew that there was no shame in crying when the situation warranted it, especially if the situation was in private. As such, the man had two trails of salty fluid running down his face as he stepped forward to say goodbye to his loving wife.

"Wife," said Genma as he embraced Nodoka. "No-chan. I will miss you, but I will return with even greater love for you than now." With that, Genma tenderly kissed his wife, and she melted into his embrace. Time seemed to slow and an eternity passed for each where only the other existed.

Finally, the two separated, and Nodoka, her voice choked and her eyes streaming with tears, said, "Genma, I will miss you, too. And I will always love you. Let my love go with you and strengthen you both."

With that final tearful good bye, Genma walked to his son where the boy was furiously trying not to cry. The older martial artist placed a hand on his son's shoulder. "Ranma," he said. "It's alright to cry during appropriate times, and leaving your mother for the first time is one of those times."

Ranma looked up at his father and said, "Dad? I thought crying wasn't manly."

Genma smiled. "It's alright for now, Ranma. Just don't do it in public."

Ranma nodded to his father even as the tears finally leaked from his eyes, and the two martial artists began their long walk to the first training ground Genma had chosen.

--

Author's Notes:

Pretty much just a montage from Ranma's birth to the beginning of his training journey, so not much to say. Enjoy the rewrite. Later.


	3. Chapter 2: Hard Training and New Friends

Family Curse

A Ranma ½ fanfic by jimra

All characters are owned by Takahashi Rumiko and a few other companies, and I'm using them without permission. Nabiki, you can put away those lawsuit forms; you of all people should know that you'd lose more money to the trial lawyers than you'd win.

Chapter Two: Hard Training and New Friends

--

"C'mon, boy," Saotome Genma yelled to his son as the sun began to set. "Let's stop here for the night. There's plenty of room to spar and train."

Ranma looked around the clearing his father was beckoning him toward, and he could not help but agree with the older man's assessment. The grassy expanse was a good thirty meters across with slightly rolling terrain, and through the trees at the far side, Ranma could make out the beginnings of a suburb of Kyoto. Overall, it was the perfect place to train in peace and still have access to the modern world.

Smiling, Ranma walked to his father and dropped his pack against a convenient tree. Kneeling down, the six-year-old began to unpack the tent and bedroll in his pack. Just as he set the two items down, he instinctively rolled to the side, just barely avoiding a kick from his father. A feral grin spread across the boy's face as he leapt to his feet and attacked. Matches such as this were common while they were on the road, and Ranma had begun to develop a danger sense due to his father's training.

Ranma and Genma punched and kicked furiously, always keeping with the Saotome Ryu's specialty of mid-air combat. Genma kept the level of his attacks just above that of his son, always giving the boy a challenge but never risking more injury than a few bruises or cuts. Ranma, on the other hand, attacked with all he had, but of course, this wasn't nearly enough to hurt his father at this stage of the boy's training.

The two continued their sparring match until the sun had finished setting, and then they quickly gathered firewood before twilight of dusk could become full night. Genma built a fire while his son erected the tent, and by the time Ranma was finished, three logs were burning cheerily in the fire ring.

Tired from the sparring and work, Ranma sat down next to the fire while his father began to cook dinner. True, dinner consisted only of some rice and dried fish, but it was good fare for martial artists on the road.

It had been two months since the duo had departed from Sapporo, and Ranma had finally gotten over his homesickness. Certainly he missed his mother, but if leaving her for a while is what it took to learn the Art, he could deal with it. Besides, his father had promised that they would return within a year.

After watching his father cook for a little while, Ranma spoke. "Dad, are we going to move on tomorrow, or will we be staying here to train for a while?"

Not looking up from his cooking—Genma knew that every cooking disaster he had ever instigated came from losing concentration in what he was doing, so this had nothing to do with disinterest in his son's question—Genma answered, "I believe that we will be staying here for some time, Ranma. This clearing is on the outskirts of Kyoto, so we have reached our first destination."

Ranma smiled as he remembered all his father had told him about Kyoto. "So we will get to see all those great training grounds and martial arts masters you were telling me about?" Ranma asked in a very eager voice.

Genma took a moment to pull the pot of rice from the fire before looking up at his son. "Be patient, Ranma," said Genma, the smile on his face robbing the rebuke of any sting. "We will be going to all those places and more, but first I think we should train here for at least a week. I want to be absolutely sure that you'll pass any test the masters require before they will train you."

A smile on his face, Ranma nodded cheerfully, visions of new techniques and wondrous places dancing through his head already. Distracted as he was by his daydreams, he didn't see the pair of hashi Genma threw at his head until they bounced off. Ranma caught the chopsticks before they could hit the ground, and looked at his father just in time to intercept a flying bowl of rice and fish.

"Good save, son," said Genma. "But you shouldn't have let your guard down enough for those hashi to get through."

"Hai, Otousan."

--

After dinner and another quick sparring match, Genma sent his son to bed. Once the boy had entered the tent, the man sat next to the dying embers of the fire in quiet contemplation.

This was the first time he had been separated from Nodoka since they had been engaged, and while he had to keep his feelings hidden for his son's benefit, Genma missed her terribly. With a sigh, the man turned his thoughts away from his beloved, so far away, and considered Ranma's training.

The boy was the delight of his father's eyes. Ranma had enormous potential for the martial arts, and Genma was far prouder of his son than he would ever let Ranma know or believe. 'It might make the boy cocky if he knew how good he actually is,' Genma thought with a smile. 'I definitely can't allow him to find out before he is mature enough to handle it.'

After a few more minutes of contemplation, Genma walked over to his pack. Picking the large, heavy canvas bag off the ground, the martial artist returned to the fire ring. There was just enough light coming from the embers by which to read, and that was just what Genma intended to do.

In addition to the usual things one would expect to find in a camping backpack, Genma also carried several rare treasures from his days with Master Happosai and a small library of training manuals. Ignoring the box where he kept the treasures, Genma spread a small cloth on the ground in front of him and set the stack of manuals on top. The martial artist smiled: this was the accumulated knowledge in all the secret techniques of the Musabetsu Kakuto Ryu that the Master had ever shared with either of his pupils. There were only three copies in the world: one held by his best friend and training partner, Tendo Soun, one he had copied himself before leaving on the training journey and was still with his wife in Sapporo, and the last set was here.

Quietly, Genma began to sort through the different manuals. First, he removed three from his sorting and slipped them back into his backpack. Two were manuals describing the Saotome Forbidden Techniques: the Yamasenken and the Umisenken. While the training was not as dangerous as the third tome, Genma knew that it would be a long time, if ever, that he would train his son in those Arts. The third, set aside due to the sheer danger involved in the training, was the manual of the Nekoken. Genma could only shake his head once he'd read that one, especially since it's mastery required teaching not only the technique itself, barbaric as that was, but also the Touched Soul. Thinking of that, the manual describing that technique quickly joined the other three in his pack.

Left with twenty some odd booklets on the cloth in front of him, Genma began sorting them by category and skill level. First, he set all the weapons training books aside in one stack, and then he sorted out the two 'free' ki techniques from the others. Finally, he was left with mundane attacks and internal ki maneuvers. The martial artist studied the titles of the remaining manuals thinking of his purpose in this: he wanted Ranma to have at least one special technique before he learned any style other than Anything Goes. It would be a point of pride for the boy, and it would insure that he would have a greater understanding and love of the Saotome-style Musabetsu Kakuto Ryu than any of the styles he would learn from the other masters that would be training him.

Genma had narrowed his choice down to two techniques over the course of an hour, but this last one was difficult. After a few more minutes of deliberation, Genma smiled. 'Yes,' he thought. 'That will be perfect.'

The elder Saotome picked up the chosen manual and returned the remaining books to his pack before joining his son in sleep.

--

Whap!

Ranma jerked awake as his father gave him a light punch in the shoulder, immediately rolling into a defensive position. Genma followed up the wake-up attack with a side kick at his son's head that was blocked by the rapidly waking boy. After three more blocks, Ranma finally struck back with a leap-flip-punch combination. While not wholly unsuccessful at hitting his father, the maneuver placed the six-year-old boy back to back with his father. As the pigtailed boy reached back for a trip, Genma called an end to the training exercise.

"You're getting better, son," said Genma with a grin. "Although we're going to have to continue this until you can dodge the first attack."

Ranma frowned at this. "But Dad," he said in a quizzical tone. "How can I dodge in my sleep?"

"You sense the world around you with your ki," replied his father. "And it only takes practice to keep your guard up while asleep. That's why I wake you like that."

"Okay, Dad," replied a once more cheerful Ranma. "What are we going to do today?"

Genma put a hand to his chin for a moment, thinking. Then he smiled at his son and said, "Ranma, why don't you go get us something to eat from town. I need to look at one of my training manuals for a bit. When you get back, we can eat and get back to training." Genma reached inside his gi and drew out a few hundred-yen notes. "Here is some money."

"Hai, Otousan," said Ranma as he took the proffered notes.

Ranma smiled as he dashed off toward the small Kyoto suburb, not looking back. The energetic six-year-old dashed through the trees and onto the street, looking around for anything good to eat. Not being a particularly picky eater, Ranma would normally just choose the closest eating establishment and grab as much food as he could, but in this case, a positively heavenly smell caused him to pass two restaurants. Finally, Ranma spotted the source of the wondrous odor.

The yattai, a mobile food cart, was not particularly large, but it still had three portable stools in front. A man wearing the traditional garb of an okonomiyaki chef stood behind using spatulas to expertly cook two Japanese pancakes on the sizzling griddle, and next to him, a child stood in a miniature version of that garb mixing batter with a spatula. Seeing as the man was a good one and a half times his size and the beard was a little intimidating, Ranma approached the child.

"Hi," he said cheerfully, a smile on his face. "Whacha doin'?"

The kid mixing batter stopped working and looked up. "Oh, hi," the miniature okonomiyaki chef replied. "I'm mixing batter for my father. What about you?"

"My dad sent me to buy breakfast," Ranma replied. Before the other kid could reply, her father said gruffly, "Breakfast, eh. What can I get you, young man?"

Ranma, having been concentrating on his conversation with the man's apprentice, nearly jumped when the elder's booming voice interrupted. Quickly recovering, Ranma turned to the man. "What do you have?"

While the elder okonomiyaki chef listed off toppings, Ranma hopped up onto one of the stools in front of the cart and watched the two small Japanese pizzas already on the grill cook. Once the man had finished, Ranma pointed to the grill and asked, "What're those?"

The chef smiled. "Those are my super-special combination okonomiyaki. I've been perfecting this recipe since before my little Ukyou here was born, and it's the best in all Japan!"

"Can I try it?" asked the little pigtailed martial artist, and much to his delight, the man quickly sliced a small piece off of one of his just finished okonomiyaki and tossed it on the plate in front of Ranma. It was gone almost before it landed as Ranma tossed the piece into his mouth. The boy's eyes lit up as the best okonomiyaki in Japan entered his mouth, and he immediately ordered three. While the older chef started on Ranma's order, the boy decided to talk to Ukyou.

"I'm Ranma," he said, sticking out his hand.

--

Meanwhile, Genma sat in the clearing, refreshing his memory on the techniques of hayabusa do, the way of the falcon. He had already been teaching Ranma the basic techniques, as they were integral to performing the Saotome-style Musabetsu Kakuto Ryu. Things like using one's ki to jump higher and sense when to rebound off objects were very important to a mid-air style.

In addition to the basic technique, there were a few secret techniques within hayabusa do, all internal ki techniques. The first allowed a martial artist to defy gravity for a few moments; he would hang in the air for enough time to throw a few attacks before gravity took affect once more. The second was an attack, the hayabusa no tsume or falcon's talons. With this technique, a kick or chop could slice through inanimate material with ease. Finally, the third was called hayabusa no hagai or falcon's pinion. Using this pressure wave technique, a martial artist could actually transfer the force of a punch over a distance using air pressure alone. While the distance wasn't very great, only about three meters, it could still be a decisive attack in many situations.

Genma had just finished refreshing his memory of the techniques when his son returned to the clearing. The elder martial artist feigned ignorance as Ranma set down the takeout box next to the tent and tried to sneak up on him. At the last moment, just before Ranma struck with a flying kick, Genma whirled around and blocked. The elder martial artist couldn't help but smile as his son used the forearm block as a springboard to leap three meters into the air, but he wasn't going to let Ranma get away with a surprise attack. Genma leapt after his son, and the two traded blows all the way back to the ground.

The match continued on the ground with Ranma giving his father another somewhat feral smile and then launching into a complex series of flying kicks and punches. Genma met him blow for blow, but when Ranma slightly overextended himself on a punch, the father grabbed his arm and sent him flying. Unsurprisingly, Ranma managed to correct his flight, but Ranma was not a master of hayabusa do yet, and the tree he tried to rebound from came a little too soon for the young martial artist. Landing badly, the boy fell to the ground.

Genma was immediately at his son's side as the little boy tried to pick himself up off the ground. Barely holding back tears, the six-year-old let his father examine his ankle. The man sighed after determining that the ankle was twisted, and that that would end his plans for martial training for the day. Quickly covering his disappointment, Genma picked Ranma up and smiled.

"Well, with your ankle like that," he said to his son in a light voice. "We can't do any more martial training for now. We'll just have to work on less active skills."

Ranma grimaced at this; he knew what that meant. Nothing but meditation techniques and regular schoolwork for the rest of the day, and possibly the next. Sighing, he said, "Hai, Otousan."

--

Kuonji Ukyou watched her new friend race off with his order of okonomiyaki for the third day in a row, but this time she decided not to just watch.

"Father?" she asked the elder Kuonji. "Can I go play with Ranma today?"

Kuonji Akira looked at his daughter and then at the departing, gi-clad boy and smiled. "Of course," he replied. "Just be back an hour before the lunch rush, alright?"

Ukyou smiled prettily and cheerfully said, "Hai, Otousan."

The little girl quickly strapped her child-sized battle spatula and bandolier on and ran after her new friend. It didn't take long before she came to the clearing where Ranma and his father were camping, but because Ranma was talking with his father, she didn't immediately announce herself.

"…see that your ankle is doing much better today, son," Genma was saying to Ranma as they finished their breakfast of okonomiyaki. "I think we can finally get back to training today, if you think you're up to it."

Ranma smiled fiercely and replied, "I'm ready, Dad! Let's do it!"

Genma smiled at his son's enthusiasm, and Ukyou could see the pride in the elder martial artist. "Very well, boy," he said. "I am going to complete your training in hayabusa do. Let me show you what a true master of hayabusa do can do, and then I will teach you."

Ranma nodded once to his father, and Genma set about demonstrating the final three secret techniques of Musabetsu Kakuto hayabusa do. Ukyou was quite duly impressed with the elder Saotome after he first managed to hang in the air for ten seconds while throwing over fifty punches and kicks, and then when he sliced a small boulder in half on his way down. Finally, before the falling half-boulder could reach the ground, he threw a punch from two meters away that struck the chunk invisibly, flinging it into a tree.

Ranma looked even more impressed, and he rushed up to his father. "Dad! That was awesome! And I can learn that? Can I? Can I?"

Smiling broadly, Genma put a hand on his son's shoulder. "Of course you can, son. I said I would teach you."

The elder martial artist knelt down to speak to Ranma face to face, but his lowered voice was unintelligible to Ukyou. She looked down, contemplating what she had just seen. That was absolutely amazing! Now she wanted to train with Ranma and his father. After a few seconds, she looked up, but the two martial artists were nowhere to be seen. She started looking wildly around the clearing, but of the Saotomes, there was no trace. She was just about to go out into the clearing to search for them when a hand dropped onto her shoulder from behind.

--

Genma had just finished his demonstration of hayabusa do when he sensed someone watching other than his son. Not letting his suspicions show on his face, Genma replied to his son's enthusiastic response to the demonstration and then knelt, bringing him to eye to eye with the boy.

Genma spoke in a soft voice, "Ranma, someone is watching us. They're just behind you in some bushes. When I say go, you go in from my left, and I'll take the right, got it?"

Ranma's eyes narrowed, and he silently nodded one quick time. Genma's pride in his son increased yet again at the serious response from the six-year-old; Ranma was amazingly mature for his age, at least when it came to serious situations like this and his training in the Art.

Genma was just about to give more instructions when he felt the stranger's attention leave them for a moment. "Go!" he whispered to Ranma, and he leapt to the right. A quick glance told him that his son had leapt at the same time, and they both stood on tree limbs to either side of the stranger. The Saotome patriarch looked down, and he almost fell out of his tree. There, crouching behind a bush, was a little girl. Looking about the same age as Ranma, she wore a miniature version of the traditional okonomiyaki chef's uniform, but she had an oversized spatula strapped to her back.

Before Genma could act on this new information, he saw his son smile brightly and leap down behind the girl. Dropping a hand on her shoulder, he said in a very cheerful voice, "Hiya, Ucchan!"

"Eeeeeep!" cried the little girl as she jumped three meters into the air, and Ranma started laughing. However, Ranma's laughter died a crushing death under the girl's spatula when she hit him on the way back down. Genma could only chuckle as he dropped from the tree to rescue his son from a little girl with a very big spatula.

--

"Oww…" Ranma rubbed his head where Ukyou's spatula had slammed down, but he was still smiling. When he finally looked up, he could see that his father had stopped another blow from the little chef's spatula from landing on his head, and Ukyou looked none too happy about it.

"Hey!" she shouted at Genma. "Leggo! Lemme go!"

She jerked on the spatula, but to no avail as Genma held the handle just below the wide, flat head. He smiled, but his voice was stern. "That's enough, young lady. There's no need to hit him again."

Then he turned to Ranma, just to be fair. "But you did deserve the one whack, Ranma."

A few minutes later, the three sat in a circle as Ranma told Genma about his friend and her father. Ranma kept stealing glances at Ukyou, still trying to figure out why his father had called his friend 'young lady.' In the end, he shrugged. It didn't really matter if his friend was a boy or a girl; she was still Ucchan.

"So," said Genma. "That is where you've been getting that wonderful okonomiyaki for the last few days."

Ukyou practically glowed at the complement, and Ranma smiled broadly. "Yep," he told his father, "Ucchan and hi—her dad make the best okonomiyaki in Japan!"

"That I don't doubt," replied the elder Saotome. He was about to say more, but Ukyou 'eeped' and said, "Oh no, I have to go or I'll be late!"

The little girl jumped off the ground and tossed a quick "Bye Ranchan, bye Saotome-san," before racing out of the clearing toward her father's yattai.

"Now I see what's been taking you so long to get back with breakfast for the last few days," Genma said to his son.

"Yeah!" replied Ranma. "Ucchan is pretty good, but not as good as me! We always spar for the first okonomiyaki off hi—her dad's yattai every morning. I always win!" Ranma said the last with a smug smile.

"Now Ranma," said Genma as he knelt to look his son in the eye, "Just remember that there will always be someone better than you in the Art. Never become overconfident or you'll stop learning."

Ranma considered his father's words for a moment before nodding acceptance, and then the boy proceeded to jump at his father, renewing their morning spar.

--

Another hour passed before Genma called a halt to the sparring, and both Saotomes slumped to the ground, exhausted. After a few moments of rest, Genma said, "You remember the techniques I demonstrated this morning, ne? Well, I'm going to spend most of every day for the next few weeks to teach them to you."

Ranma's immediate, enthusiastic reaction to this was, in a word, astounding. All thought of sparring for a solid hour was forgotten, the burning in his muscles ignored completely as the boy jumped to his feet in eagerness. Genma couldn't help but grin proudly at his son, but nonetheless, he said, "Now now, Ranma. Don't get impatient. This will take time and concentration to master, so take your time and learn it right."

"Hai, Otousan!" was the only reply.

--

Five days passed with Ranma arriving every morning for his morning spar with Ukyou and to buy breakfast for him and his father. Things were going so well that on the third day, the elder Kuonji had moved his yattai down the road to a point just past the opening to the Saotome's clearing; he and his daughter would even watch the two spar when business was slow. Soon, Ukyou was spending more time trying to mimic the Genma's moves than cooking, but her father didn't seem to mind.

The sixth day opened with Ranma's usual victory over Ukyou for the first okonomiyaki, but when Ranma looked up from devouring his prize, Genma was standing there. Quickly getting up from where he was sitting on Ukyou—their usual positions after their morning spar—Ranma asked, "What's up, Dad?"

"I'm giving you a free day today, Ranma," said Genma, kneeling down to speak to his son at eye level. "It's not good to overwork yourself, and it's high time you did something other than train. At least for a day."

"Hai, Otousan," Ranma cried happily. Turning to help Ukyou up, he said, "Dija hear that, Ucchan? We can play all day today!"

The little okonomiyaki chef smiled at her friend, and with a happy yell, she dragged him away toward a nearby park.

Genma and Akira smiled as their children ran off to play, and a short time later, the Saotome patriarch sat on one of the yattai's stools eating an okonomiyaki of his own. After a moment, Akira began to speak.

"Saotome, I've rarely seen martial artists of your caliber, and your son seems to be on a fast track to being even better than you."

No little pride showed on Genma's face at the compliment, and he said, "Thank you, Kuonji. I'll do everything in my power to make Ranma the best martial artist he can be."

"That's a good goal for a father to have for his son," replied Akira. "Like you, I have been training my child in the family Art since she was old enough to walk, but there is little more knowledge I can impart. Unfortunately, the Kuonji-style Okonomiyaki Ryu is rather limited, and Ukyou knows all the techniques of the battle and throwing spatula, as well as how to make ingredients into weapons. Honestly, only practice will allow her to master the skills she has, and I don't want to see her waste her time on review. A child will easily become bored with that and give up the Art."

Genma nodded gravely at the man's monologue; he'd seen it happen many times before. "As I understand it," said Genma after a few moments of contemplation. "You want to see Ukyou excel in the Art, but you have no further techniques to teach. She already has enough knowledge to become a master in your style; she just lacks the skill of practice. Thus, the reason you are telling me all this is a round about way to ask me to train her with Ranma, correct?"

Akira's eyes widened briefly, but then the bearded man chuckled. "Well, I was going to get around to asking you a bit later, but since you already know, I'll go ahead. Would you train my Ukyou while you're here? It would mean a lot to me, and she would benefit greatly."

Genma sat in silent deliberation for the better part of half an hour before giving his answer, and Akira waited patiently, serving any customer to come along. The Saotome patriarch was analyzing everything he knew about Ukyou and her fighting style, trying to see how she might do in the Saotome Ryu. He was also trying to decide if he should put a girl through that kind of training. Finally, Genma replied to Akira.

"Kuonji," he said quietly. "I'm willing to train Ukyou, but it will be much less rigorous than Ranma's training."

"Very well," said the elder Kuonji with a smile. "Thank you, Saotome-kun."

--

When Ukyou and Ranma returned from the park, their fathers told the two friends about their deal. Needless to say, the two little martial artists were ecstatic about the news. Over the next two weeks, Ranma would continue his normal routine of sparring with Ukyou in the mornings, but after that, Ukyou would follow Ranma back to the clearing where Genma would instruct them both in the Saotome Ryu.

For the first week, Genma told Ranma to practice his new secret techniques alone while the elder Saotome evaluated Ukyou's level of skill. By the next week, Ranma had mastered the skill of hanging in the air for a few moments, but it would take more practice to get more than his two seconds. Still, with the basic technique learned, Ranma began to work on the hayabusa no tsume. Meanwhile, Genma began Ukyou's training in the Saotome-style Musabetsu Kakuto Ryu. The girl caught on quick; Genma never had to demonstrate a technique more than twice for the girl to get it, and the Saotome patriarch didn't have to correct her movement very often, all of which very much impressed the martial arts instructor.

Each day, Ukyou's father would bring lunch and dinner to the clearing, free of charge, and the entire group would eat their fill. Occasionally, Ukyou would produce a small, portable griddle and dazzle her father and friends with her own amazing culinary skills. All in all, the entire group settled into a comfortable pattern.

When the third week of Ukyou's training came around, Ranma's overconfidence cost him his first okonomiyaki breakfast.

--

At the end of the fourth week of training, Genma once again arrived at the Kuonji okonomiyaki cart before Ranma returned. This time, however, it was Ukyou who was sitting on top, munching on an okonomiyaki. The elder Saotome chuckled at this, but then, he announced that the children would be having another free day. Laughing and yelling in delight, the two were off to the park, once more leaving their fathers to talk.

"Well, Kuonji-kun," said Genma, sitting down on one of the portable stools in front of the yattai. "Your Ukyou has nearly as much potential as my son."

Akira smiled proudly at the complement, but he knew that a simple complement wouldn't be the reason Genma had wanted to talk. "Your words make me very happy, Saotome-kun. I am glad Ukyou is doing so well."

"As am I," replied Genma. "However, I'm sorry to inform you that Ranma and I must move on. We will be leaving tomorrow."

Akira's face fell at that. He didn't want his little girl's only friend to go away, and the training Genma had been giving her was exceptional. Knowing that he couldn't let an opportunity like this go away, he said, "Saotome-kun, I've been thinking. The only thing besides training that I would like to give Ukyou would be a husband. Considering how well she and your Ranma get along, I think it would be a wonderful match."

"I'm sorry to have to tell you this, Kuonji-kun," Genma replied, "but Ranma already has an iinazuke. There is only one other family in the world that practices Musabetsu Kakuto Ryu, and we hope that Ranma will marry one of the daughters of that family to recombine the schools."

Akira sighed, knowing that such an arrangement was usually based on the family honor of one or both clans, and so it would be futile to play his trump card. The Kuonji patriarch might have tried it if the other arrangement wasn't so sound, but a single yattai would not compare to a clan's honor.

"In that case, Saotome-kun," Akira said in a sad voice, "I have a request."

Genma replied in an equally grave tone. "Go on."

"Since I have nothing more to teach Ukyou, and I know you could teach her so much more, I would like you to take Ukyou with you on your journey. I am a widower, Saotome-kun, and if Ukyou must have a life on the road, I'd much rather it be spent in worthwhile training as opposed to simply being an assistant at one small yattai, just practicing the same skills until she gets bored. Train her and I will be eternally grateful."

Genma was surprised by this request, but the tone of the man's voice and the candid nature of his story conveyed his sincerity. The Musabetsu Kakuto practitioner wasn't one to take such a thing lightly, and so he had not spoken again until the children returned from the park for lunch.

The meal was a quiet affair as the children picked up on their respective parent's moods, and afterward, Ranma and Ukyou ran back to the clearing where the Saotomes were camping to spar for a little while.

Finally, as mid afternoon rolled around, Genma looked at Akira and said, "Very well, I will take on Ukyou as a student, but you must understand that I can't promise when I will bring her back. If you accept this, Ukyou may leave with us tomorrow."

Akira's face showed a mixed reaction to Genma's words, and he could understand why the okonomiyaki chef would have such a reaction to the thought of not seeing his daughter for some time. However, the man's words were grateful. "Thank you, Saotome-kun. I am indebted to you for this service."

--

Ukyou hefted the pack her father had put together for her and slipped her arms through the loops. The canvas bag was heavy, but her heart was heavier. For the first time, she would be leaving her father. 'At least I'll still be with Ranchan and Saotome-sensei,' she thought.

Kuonji Akira's eyes were shining with tears as he knelt in front of his daughter and hugged her. "Don't worry, Ukyou-chan. Saotome-sensei has promised to train you well."

"I know, father," she replied, her voice tremulous with emotion. "I love you, and I'll miss you."

"And I, you, daughter. Remember all your cooking lessons and continue to practice the Kuonji-style Okonomiyaki Ryu." Akira managed a smile for his daughter as he released her from the hug.

"Hai, Otousan."

Genma and Ranma waited a little distance away while the Kuonjis said goodbye to each other, but as the emotional scene wound down, Genma spoke. "Don't worry, Kuonji-kun; I'll take good care of Ukyou."

"I know you will, Saotome-kun," replied the elder Kuonji as he finally got his emotions under control. "All of you: have fun and learn well!"

All four waving, two Saotomes and one Kuonji walked away from a yattai in a suburb of Kyoto, their journey still only beginning.

--

Author's notes:

Well, it's been a long time coming, but I hope that just makes it better. If you want to know why it took so long, read my bio (I use it for updates on my writing more than actual bio).

So, with the basic changes, we can already see some very different events from canon along with some obvious OOC action from some characters. However, I'd like to think that I'm still portraying them well considering the changes I've made to the canon universe's past.

I don't think that there really is a hayabusa do in the canon, but I needed a set of techniques that Ranma could learn for this chapter. The 'floating in mid air' technique is seen many times when Ranma and Genma are sparring in the canon, and the hayabusa on tsume is used in the Martial Arts Rhythmic Gymnastics match when Ranma wins. He uses it to cut the pole Kodachi is standing on. As for the hayabusa no hagai, I just made it up. I like the idea and Kuno does something similar with his bokken during a fight with Ranma in the first volume and fourth episode of the canon manga and anime. In any case, it seems like 'the way of the falcon' would be an ideal set of techniques for a mid-air combat style like the Saotome Ryu.

In any case, if you've read this far, then you've managed to read all of my ranting as well as my story. Until later. Ja.


	4. Chapter 3: Homecoming

Family Curse

A Ranma ½ fanfic by jimra

In no way do I claim these characters as my own. Ranma ½ was created by the awe-inspiring genius that is Takahashi Rumiko-sama, and we should all thank her for her ideas. I can only hope that this story can be an adequate tribute to her greatness.

Chapter Three: Homecoming

--

After leaving Kuonji Akira, Genma lead Ranma and Ukyou to an area just north of Kyoto famous for its training grounds and martial arts masters. Genma continued to teach Ukyou and, to a lesser degree, Ranma the Saotome-style Musabetsu Kakuto Ryu, but the greater part of Ranma's training during that time was under the various masters the trio sought out.

While Ukyou was not quite ready for the teachings of the masters, Ranma passed their tests with ease, and the young martial artist excelled in any training given to him. Genma would occasionally allow Ukyou to learn under one of the masters, but under most circumstances she would train with Genma while Ranma learned under another master.

A normal day would see Ukyou whip up breakfast while Genma evaluated what Ranma had learned from the latest master of some obscure Art, and then Genma would begin training Ukyou while Ranma went to meet with his temporary master. Sometimes Ranma would return for lunch and sometimes not, but invariably Ranma would return by dusk for dinner with his family. Occasionally, Ranma would be gone for a few days at a time for some intense training, but normally he would be back for supper and a spar with his best friend.

Finally, after nearly nine months of training in northern Kyoto and learning numerous techniques, the three martial artists left the Kyoto area. Traveling north, Genma lead them toward Sapporo and the Saotome home away from home. The Saotome patriarch remembered his promise to Nodoka to bring Ranma back at least once a year, and it had been nearly that long. In the end, Genma's group arrived at the Saotome home in Sapporo just one week before the anniversary of their leaving.

--

Ranma was tired, but that wouldn't stop him. They were only three kilometers from seeing his mother again, and nothing would turn him from his goal. Even though they'd been traveling since before the sun came up and it was well after nightfall, the Saotome heir was determined to see his mother before he slept.

Trying to shave some time off their trip, the small party had deviated from the road, and now they crossed a broad, untended field that had looked smooth from the roadway. Unfortunately, the field was filled with rocks and hollows ready to trip unwary feet, and Ranma found himself jumping from rocky outcrop to raised patch of ground in an attempt to speed his course among the hollows. The brown grass was tall enough to reach his chest, and the almost new moon made the night very dark regardless of the spray of twinkling stars covering the sky. All this together made for a hard, treacherous journey, but to a disciple of the Saotome Ryu and near master of hayabusa do, it was nothing but a simple training exercise. Still, Ranma concentrated carefully on his path through the fatigue fogging his mind, intent on his goal.

"Ranma," Genma interrupted his son's thoughts. "Maybe we should stop for the night. You're mother isn't going anywhere." The older man was already carrying a sleeping Ukyou, and he most assuredly wouldn't want to carry both children for more than a kilometer through this rough terrain. Seven-year-olds weren't nearly as easy to carry as children of only five or six years, and both of his charges seemed to be in a growth spurt.

However, Ranma stuck out his chin stubbornly as he stopped long enough to look at his father, saying, "No way, Dad. I can make it! I'm gonna see Mom tonight!" With that, the young martial artist turned away and quickened his pace. Genma sighed; like father like son. Genma, too, leapt between spots of level ground, though he did so with a look that showed his thoughts were elsewhere. The master of the Saotome Ryu had no need to concentrate of such an easy implementation of the hayabusa do.

Ranma was right: he could make it. Three quarters of an hour later, Ranma lead the little group of exhausted martial artists up the gate of the walled Saotome home in Sapporo. To Ranma, it was like walking in a dream; through his sleep-fogged mind everything moved in slow motion. The genkan opened in preternatural silence, and Ranma watched his mother rush forward to envelope him in a big hug. Weakly, the boy returned the show of affection and whispered, "Tadaima, Okaasan," before sleep finally claimed his young mind.

--

Tears trickling down her cheeks, Nodoka held her sleeping son in her arms. He was much bigger than when she'd last seen him, and his build was leaner, stronger, with all the baby fat gone. But before he'd passed out from exhaustion, she'd seen his beautiful blue-grey eyes were just the same, filled with love and happiness.

She hugged her son's travel-stained form tightly one more time before finally looking up, taking in the rest of the group. Genma stood only a couple meters away, a few tears squeezing their way out of his eyes even as his mouth curled into a happy smile. Nodoka walked over to her husband and kissed him; she would have held him as well, but her arms were filled with their son.

Once the kiss was over, Nodoka finally had eyes for things other than her husband and son, and she quickly took note of the small, sleeping girl Genma held in his arms to mirror her own pose with their son. She looked questioningly at her husband, but he shook his head slightly. Nodoka could see in his eyes that he would be happy to explain, but that first they should put the children to bed.

The Saotome matriarch quietly led the way into the small house, her eyes straying from her son only to make certain there was nothing to trip her in her path. The red-haired woman walked slowly, being careful not to jar her precious cargo, up the stairs and into Ranma's room. Mother set child gently on his bed, and Genma placed the child in his arms next to the seven-year-old boy. In her sleep, the little girl threw an arm over her bedmate and hugged him, a small smile on both children's lips.

After pulling the sheets on the bed gently over the two children, Nodoka silently lead her husband from the room, the man flicking the light off and closing the door as he exited.

Now that the children were in bed, Nodoka gave her husband a proper welcome. Slipping her arms around his neck, she kissed the man she loved deeply. Genma's arms slipped gently around her back and held her to him, and she melted into his embrace for what seemed like a happy eternity. Nodoka sighed as the kiss ended, leaning into her husband. She'd missed his strong arms and firm chest, and breaking the embrace and leading him to their room, she decided that her questions could wait until morning. Cheeks coloring slightly, she could not keep her mind off of the double futon in the room, one that had been so empty without him.

--

Sunlight and a soft futon greeted Saotome Genma as he awoke, and the man sighed in contentment as he realized the previous night had not been a dream. The elder Saotome man rose leisurely for the first time since leaving on his training trip; Genma had told Ranma that the first week home would be free. No training, no sparring except for fun, and no sneak attacks; of course, sometime during the week he would have to test his son. After all, the best sneak attack was when one believed there would be none.

The master bedroom was a sparse affair, Genma noted as he allowed himself to relax on the futon, an indulgence he rarely allowed himself on the road. Like most Japanese bedrooms, the floor was covered in tatami mats, softer than trying to kneel on bare wood, and due to lack of space, the futon would be folded and set in one of the side panels in the room, similar to the one that now housed his pack. Finally, seeing no reason to lounge away the whole day, Genma rose.

Since there would be no training for the week, Genma decided to do something he hadn't done since before beginning his training trip with Ranma: he wore something other than a gi. After pulling on loose black pants, tied at the ankle and similar to the type Nodoka bought for Ranma when he wasn't training, and a green tee shirt, Genma walked down stairs where the smell of breakfast cooked by his wife awaited his appreciative nose.

"Good morning, No-chan," Genma said with a smile as he entered the kitchen, and without waiting for a reply he walked up behind his wife and wrapped his arms around her. Giving her a kiss on the cheek, Genma continued in a happy, satisfied tone, "Breakfast smells wonderful." The Saotome patriarch enjoyed the feeling of his Nodoka leaning into his chest, but he released her as she moved to check the miso soup.

"Good morning, Gen-chan," Nodoka finally replied as she continued preparations for breakfast, flashing him a beatific smile. "I'm so glad to have you and Ranma home. He and Ukyou are playing in the backyard."

Genma looked at his wife strangely for a moment before realizing that Ranma would have introduced his best friend to his mother, but nonetheless, using a voice that blended his best apologetic tone with wry humor, he said, "I guess I have a bit of explaining to do."

"Yes, husband," Nodoka confirmed, though her tone robbed any severity from her words.

Genma proceeded to tell his wife how he had agreed to train Ukyou while the Saotome matriarch finished preparing breakfast, and when he was done, Nodoka, nodding with approval that reached her voice, said, "Well, since she is Ranma's best friend, I definitely approve of your decision. I'm glad Ranma has someone his own age to travel and train with."

"Thank you, Nodoka," said Genma, smiling. "I'm glad you approve."

Just then, Ranma and Ukyou rushed into the house in a blur of grass stains and dirty clothes, laughing and running all the way. As the two children decided that the living room would be a good wrestling arena, Genma quickly plucked Ranma from the ongoing melee while his wife grabbed Ukyou.

"You two are filthy!" said Nodoka in an exasperated voice. "Genma, would you give them a bath while I finish breakfast?"

Still smiling, Genma nodded and took Ukyou from his wife, and while Nodoka returned to the kitchen, her husband carried his armful of children to the furo. The elder Saotome male stripped off his charges' clothes and threw them into the laundry basket before herding them into the bathing area.

Washing the children was definitely a challenge as both Ranma and Ukyou wanted to continue their wrestling match, and Genma was switched between human and panda forms several times by the streams of hot and cold water spraying everywhere, the children laughing at his transformations. Admittedly, his cursed form was better for this than Nodoka's fox form, but it still didn't seem fair that he had to be the one to handle any bathing issues. Eventually, however, Genma had them both clean and soaking in the hot water of the furo.

'I'm so glad we bought a house with a furo,' the Saotome patriarch thought to himself as he leaned back. 'It would be a lot more trouble to do this at a public bath house. Besides, changing back would be much more difficult without this'

Finally, after a short while soaking, Genma pulled his charges from the water and dried them, and it was three clean Saotomes and one clean Kuonji that sat down to have breakfast.

--

So it went for another five days. Genma relaxed with Nodoka, both happy just to be together, and Ranma and Ukyou played. Only twice did Genma break the 'no sneak attack' rule, and both children passed with flying colors. One time, the children decided to get him back, and the intense sparring match that ensued left all three martial artists lying sweat-soaked and exhausted in the backyard.

Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end, and the free week Genma had declared ended with an argument.

"Genma, I won't have you taking Ranma back on the road so soon," said Nodoka, her tone promising that no defiance would be tolerated. "And Ukyou needs a female influence in her life. She needs to learn how to be a proper young woman."

"But No-chan," Genma started, but his wife cut him off in that same flat voice. "Don't 'No-chan' me, Genma. They will stay here for three months. And, they'll be enrolled in school. I won't my son or his best friend growing up ignorant and unschooled."

"If they're in school all day, when am I going to train them?" Genma put the fact that this was his wife out of his mind. He only thought of what was best for his charges, at least in his mind. Ranma was the heir to the Saotome-style Musabetsu Kakuto Ryu, and he had promised Kuonji-kun that he would train Ukyou to be the best martial artist she could be. Being enrolled in school would interfere with his ability to teach them, and he could not allow that. It wasn't as though their education had suffered much on the road, and he told his wife as much before she could respond to his previous question.

"Genma," Nodoka answered his first question, her voice rising in annoyance. "You can afford to give them a three month break from intense training. On top of that, you have the gall to suggest that your meager lessons on the road measure up to a real school? You couldn't have given them more than two hours a day to school work by how they behave! Besides, how will they ever learn to associate with other children if they never have any contact with them?"

The Saotome matriarch sighed, the anger leaving her face in exchange for a mixture of sorrow and deep longing. "I only want what's best for them, husband, but I also want to have you and Ranma here for a little while. One week each year is not enough."

Genma looked down, ashamed. Here he'd only been thinking of what was best for the children's martial training, and Nodoka was thinking of so much more. In any case, it was understandable that the Saotome woman would miss her role as wife and mother, and Genma, now understanding her position, relented.

"Alright, No-chan," said Genma, his voice carrying an uncharacteristic amount of emotion, none of it anger. "We'll stay for three months."

Nodoka smiled, but Genma continued. "However, I will train them everyday after school, and after three months we must leave again. Too much of this modern living and soft schooling and they will get weak."

With another sigh, Nodoka agreed to those terms. "Very well, husband."

--

A broad smile graced Nodoka's face as she walked the children to their first day at school. The small primary school where she had enrolled Ranma and Ukyou didn't require a special uniform, and Nodoka had dressed her son in the same black pants and red shirt combination she had picked out so long ago. Since she hadn't been expecting Ukyou, the Saotome matriarch had had to run out and do some shopping. For today, Nodoka had dressed her in a blue and white dress similar to her okonomiyaki chef outfit, barring that it was a bit more lady-like. Ukyou still wasn't used to wearing anything particularly feminine, but Nodoka had made it her mission to change that. Even so, the little girl squirmed uncomfortably in the unfamiliar clothing, and she glared enviously at Ranma's outfit every time Ukyou thought the older woman wasn't looking.

For their part, the two seven-year-olds seemed very enthusiastic about going to school for the first time, beyond Ukyou's outfit; they both skipped along at a rapid pace most of the time. This forced Nodoka to keep a faster walk than her usual, graceful steps, but she didn't mind, even if it was a chore in a kimono. The children's exuberance had infected her mood to the point that she was almost skipping herself; perhaps she would if it weren't so undignified.

When the trio reached the school, Nodoka walked Ranma and Ukyou into the office to finish enrolling them. It took about half an hour to get all of the paperwork filled out, even though she had taken care of most of the enrolling process the previous week, and it required another to explain why a Saotome was enrolling a Kuonji. Finally, though, with all the red tape negotiated, Nodoka handed Ranma and Ukyou their lunches and left them to the school's care.

After dropping her son and his best friend at school, Nodoka went to do some shopping. If she timed it properly, she would have just enough time to buy groceries and a few sets of clothes for Ukyou, drop them at home, and make a late lunch for Genma before she needed to pick the children up.

Nodoka was right, for the most part. She finished her shopping in good order and had just arrived home when the phone rang.

"Hello, Saotome home," she said pleasantly into the receiver.

After a moment, Nodoka's eyes widened, and incredulous, she nearly shouted, "They did WHAT?"

Another moment of listening and she nodded unconsciously as she replied to the caller in a somewhat weak voice. "Alright, I'll be right there."

Quickly, she put away the perishable items and rushed out of the house.

--

After being shown to their classroom by the secretary, Ranma and Ukyou were asked to introduce themselves to their classmates. With a big smile, Ranma said, "I'm Saotome Ranma, and I'm gonna be the best martial artist in the world!"

Ukyou was a little shy when compared with her best friend, her voice quiet but with no less pride. "My name is Kuonji Ukyou. I want to be the world's greatest okonomiyaki chef."

After their introduction, the two friends settled into desks near the classroom's windows. With the excitement of new students in the second-year class, the teacher allowed for a few minutes of talking, but very shortly she settled the class down and got started.

Ranma found himself immediately bored; even when his father gave him school work while they were training, the lessons were never quite this dull. The young martial artist slowly found his mind wandering away from the lesson on basic mathematics, and it wasn't until the teacher had asked the question for the third time that he heard her.

"Huh?" Ranma asked intelligently, and the teacher repeated herself in an irritated tone. "What is thirteen minus seven, Saotome-san?"

"Ummm," Ranma thought back to the lessons his father taught him on math.

Genma's lessons always revolved around fighting in some way or another. Things like 'If I'm facing five opponents and two of them run away, how many am I still facing?' or 'If you throw fifty two punches at your opponent's gut and thirty eight at your opponent's head, but you miss on twenty three, how many blows struck your opponent?' and the always popular 'If I kick my first opponent fourteen times and punch him twenty times, and then I punch my second opponent forty five times and land three jump kicks to his head, how many total blows have I delivered?'.

Finally, after mentally facing thirteen enemies and beating the crap out of seven of them, Ranma answered, "I'm left facing six."

With that kind of answer, the teacher looked at the Saotome heir quizzically and the class laughed. After the moment it took the teacher to get the class settled down, she turned back to Ranma and nodded. "That answer is a little unconventional, but you're right. I'd like to speak to you and Kuonji-san after school for a little while, Saotome-san."

And so class continued, Ranma's strange answer not really understood by anyone but Ukyou—since she'd had the same lessons from Ranma's father—and largely forgotten. Finally, after what seemed to be an eternity for Ranma of boring lectures that had nothing to do with martial arts or fighting, the teacher finally announced the beginning of recess.

Once the teacher had led the line of quiet seven-year-olds out through the rear doors of the school, the shackles of silence and learning fell from the children. Laughing and running, the class took to the playground.

Ranma and Ukyou walked between groups of children playing various games. Some were playing on the slide, and a good size group was playing tag. Still another group had gathered to play foursquare on the blacktop, but none of the games seemed like any fun to the two budding martial artists.

In the end, they settled on a small area of the playground without any students. Without saying a word, the two friends dropped into combat stances, and the sparring match began.

Ranma leapt back toward the school to a height of three meters before rebounding off the wall at Ukyou, but the girl was ready. She rolled under Ranma's attack and swept her leg back, trying to catch him as he reached the ground.

Ukyou's counterattack was partially successful as she felt her heel hit Ranma's ankle, but instead of the desired effect of landing Ranma flat on his back, the Saotome heir used the momentum of the sweep to push himself through a series of handsprings, landing to face off against his best friend again.

Now, one must understand that while Ranma and Ukyou were moving at normal speeds for sparring with each other, the teacher and other students had never seen anything like this display of martial prowess...at least not from ones so young. All play in the yard ended as awestruck students and teacher alike stood gaping at the performance of the two pint-sized martial artists. Of course, the two combatants were completely oblivious to their growing, wide-eyed audience.

Now, with the warm-up round complete, the two combatants took the fight up another notch. Simultaneously, Ranma and Ukyou rushed forward, each letting loose with a stunningly fast series of punches, kicks, and strikes, but neither got through the defense of the other. Strikes, blocks, and counterattacks blazed through the air such that the teacher couldn't follow all the moves, but after a moment the two leapt back.

Thinking the fight must be done, the teacher began to move forward, but before she could take more than two steps, the young martial artists leapt into the air. Genma would have applauded Ranma's and Ukyou's use of hayabusa do as the two hung in the air for a full seven seconds, trading blows at breakneck speed, before they even began falling from the four meter height of their jump.

As the two friends continued their sparring match, the fight moved slowly away from its origin, and Ranma and Ukyou were now trading blows in the middle of the blacktop. Unexpectedly, Ukyou leapt to rebound off of one of the basketball goals, but Ranma, not to be out done, mirrored the move with the other. Once again the two traded blows in midair, this time at six meters up, but this time Ukyou managed to get a punch through Ranma's guard. As Ranma began to fall, the little okonomiyaki chef managed to get a quick jump off of his body and then followed her friend down, a kick leading her way, using her hands to hold down her dress.

Ranma only just barely managed to roll out of the way of his friend's drop kick, and Ukyou found herself a little off balance in the center of a meter wide, half-meter deep crater in the blacktop. However, Ranma wasn't about to give Ukyou time to recover. The Saotome heir rolled to his feet and immediately leapt at his friend in a fierce jump kick.

If anyone in the crowd could sense ki, they would have known that Ranma was channeling his ki into his foot. Luckily for her, Ukyou looked up in time to see Ranma bearing down on her using the hayabusa no tsume technique, and the chef threw herself out of the way just in time, rolling back to her feet. However, the basketball goal wasn't so lucky. Ranma's technique sliced cleanly through the metal shaft holding the goal, and as Ranma recovered from his ki-enhanced strike, the goal fell onto the blacktop with a crash.

The non-martial artists watching couldn't believe their eyes, but Ranma and Ukyou wouldn't be distracted by something as small as a destroyed basketball goal. The two disciples of Musabetsu Kakuto Ryu were already trading blows again, this time near the slide; by the time the spectators returned their attention to the fight, Ukyou was using the hayabusa no tsume herself in a knife-hand strike. Ranma dodged the blow, but the ladder of the slide, along with its supports, were sliced cleanly in two. Seeing the large piece of metal falling his way, Ranma did a back flip and kicked the slide away. A few students burst into tears over losing their favorite piece of playground equipment, but the combatants didn't notice. They only remembered each other.

Blow after blow was traded, and eventually, Ranma had Ukyou backed against the side of the school. Knowing that she would easily dodge if he rushed forward or leapt to attack, Ranma decided to try his not-quite-mastered hayabusa no hagai. Taking a quick breath, Ranma focused his ki into his right fist and drew it back.

"Hey!" Ukyou yelled angrily, the first time either of them had spoken since before the sparring match had begun. "No fair! I haven't learned that one yet!"

Heedless of his friend's anger, Ranma yelled, "Hayabusa no Hagai!" as he punched with all his might.

When Ranma didn't answer her, Ukyou knew he was serious about using the technique, and just as her friend attacked, the Kuonji heir threw herself to the side, once again using the dodging techniques from the Musabetsu Kakuto Ryu to return to her feet and face her opponent, but when she saw that Ranma hadn't turned toward her, she paused.

Following Ranma's frozen gaze, Ukyou turned to look at the wall, and her mouth fell open. Where Ranma's attack hit, there was now a meter wide hole in the wall. The brick wall, including bent steel rebar that had once reinforced the wall, had been blown into the interior of the school by the force of Ranma's falcon pinion.

--

Nodoka arrived at the school just in time to see her son back Ukyou up against the wall of the school, but for a moment, the Saotome matriarch could only stare. Numerous small and a couple not so small craters littered the blacktop and one of the basketball goals lay on the ground nearby. Also, a twisted hunk of metal lay where Nodoka was sure a slide had stood that morning. But then, the woman's attention was grabbed by a loud crash.

Turning back to her son and his friend, Nodoka's mouth fell open and her eyes widened. Where a moment before a solid wall stood, there was now a meter wide hole with a small pile of rubble, and it was obvious to the mother that Ranma had made it. Both her son and Ukyou looked amazed at what Ranma had done, but while Nodoka might have been frozen in place like everyone else in the schoolyard, the extravagance of the damage caused by Ranma and Ukyou forced her into action.

Rushing forward, Nodoka grabbed her son by the back of his collar and quickly dragged him over to Ukyou; once there, she unceremoniously picked up both her son and his friend. Walking back through the stunned crowd, the Saotome matriarch bowed to the shell-shocked teacher and said a quick "gomen-nasai" before hurrying toward home. As she left, a small piece of brick fell from the top of the hole Ranma's hayabusa no hagai had created onto the small pile rubble with an audible 'clink,' and the teacher, still wide eyed and dumb-struck, sank to her knees.

--

Author's notes:

Well, this chapter was actually unintentional and not exactly covered by my outline. This would have been about half of my original chapter 3, but this seemed like such a good stopping point, I decided to delay the actual outlined events until chapter 4.

Either way, this gave me a chance to practice writing action, so I want to know how I did. Please tell me if you like my style of action in your reviews.

Thanks. Until later. Ja.


	5. Chapter 4: Should have read that next pa...

Family Curse

A Ranma ½ fanfic by jimra

I'm getting kinda tired of writing disclaimers, so today we will try a mental exercise instead. First, close your eyes, and then, imagine a disclaimer is here. Good! I guess we're done.

Chapter Four: Should have read that next page...

--

Ranma sat in his room, bored. 'A full month of being grounded just because of a little sparring match,' he thought sourly. Sure, he didn't realize he could punch hard enough with the falcon's pinion to put a hole in the wall of the school, but that was nothing compared to when he, Ukyou, and his father went all out.

Either way, his mother had been very upset with him, and that was enough to make Ranma reconsider his actions. Looking over at his best friend, he watched as Ukyou worked on her homework. Math problems covered the notebook paper, and Ranma, though uninterested in the bookwork, decided that he had nothing better to do.

Pulling his own math book from his school bag, Ranma set to work, literally fighting his way through his homework.

--

"How could you not have taught them more restraint!?" cried Nodoka at her rather unhappy husband. "Someone could have been seriously hurt! Maybe even killed!"

"Nodoka," began Genma, his tone an obvious attempt at reason despite the nervous sweat on his brow. "It was just a little sparring match. I don't see what's so bad; they did quite well for such young martial artists."

"Genma!" Nodoka was almost crying at this point. "They did over two hundred thousand yen worth of damage! They have to realize when it is appropriate to spar and when it isn't!"

The Saotome patriarch could only sigh as his wife's tirade continued, his thoughts running on a parallel but definitely different track. 'I'm so proud of those two! Using the techniques they were taught with such skill at their age. They are going to be great! So what if they caused a little damage; it's minor compared to their demonstration of what proper training can do.'

--

Math didn't help. Neither did Japanese. Or English. Or geography. Ranma was in a state of terminal boredom. Even Ukyou wasn't around, having gone to take her bath. Ranma would have slept, but he was too bored. His mind continuously ran over katas he knew and spars he'd had, analyzing them to improve his tactical skills just like his father had taught him, but even that wasn't very much fun if he couldn't try out his supposed improvements.

Finally, after much internal deliberation, Ranma stood and left his and Ukyou's room, sneaking through the house toward his parents' room. As the seven-year-old crept down the hall, he placed each foot carefully to avoid the known squeaky boards. He could hear Ukyou still washing herself in the bathroom, singing a little tune, and his parents were will down stairs 'discussing' his and Ukyou's actions at school. After about two minutes of careful, silent movement, the pigtailed martial artist slowly slid open the door to his parents' room.

Looking around the fair-sized master bedroom of the Saotome home, Ranma's brain automatically analyzed the room for tactical advantages. Even if he never thought he would fight in his parents' bedroom, Ranma had been trained to always know how to take the most advantage of his surroundings, and hence, he quickly categorized each object. The double-size futon, neatly folded but not put away, could be used as a distracter but not as cover. Several books on the shelf at the far end of the room might be used as impromptu shields or projectiles. In a pinch, they could even be used as makeshift clubs. Several small objects besides the books also adorned the shelves, and Ranma quickly classified them as projectiles. The glass sphere with the strange, curvy veins and the miniature Tokyo Tower would be excellent bludgeoning and piercing weapons, respectively, should such things become necessary.

All this analysis went through the pigtailed boy's mind in the span of a second as he scanned the room, not even truly conscious of his thought processes. In that same second, his eyes alighted on the object of his search. Categorized as a bludgeon, distraction, and possible garrote with the straps, his father's backpack sat neatly leaning against the far wall in the corner.

Creeping silently once more, Ranma stepped lightly over the soft floor mats to it, and with the slowest of motions, he opened the top flap. The dark-haired boy winced involuntarily at the memory of the last time he'd opened his father's pack without permission, but Ranma ignored the feeling of impending doom and remembered pain. The beating Genma had given him after he tried to see what was in the older martial artist's pack was probably the worst of Ranma's tender seven years.

Ranma's eyes scanned the interior of the pack searching for one object in particular, the same object he'd been trying to read when Genma found him the last time. Finally, Ranma's hand touched the rough, leather binding of one particular book, and the pigtailed martial artist's eyes lit up as he pulled the ancient training manual from the leather pack. Eyes alight with excitement and hands trembling in anticipation, Ranma smiled. This technique, if the manual was to be believed, was one of the most powerful ever devised, and he would learn it.

Slowly, almost reluctantly, Ranma slipped the thin, leather-bound tome inside his shirt and carefully returned his father's pack to its original condition. As he slowly made his way out of the master bedroom, Ranma consciously catalogued each object, confirming that it was undisturbed. After two minutes of study from the door, Ranma was satisfied. The Saotome heir silently slid the door to his parents' room closed and listened.

Downstairs, Ranma could no longer hear his parents talking, but his mother was definitely in the kitchen, cooking supper. She always hummed a nice tune as she cooked, so Ranma always knew when she was preparing yet another excellent meal the family. The boy's ears also caught the sound of splashing coming from the furo, so he assumed that Ukyou was still in her bath.

At last satisfied that no one would know of his appropriation of the training manual, Ranma once more began his slow, silent trek to his room, mindful of the creaky boards in the hallway. As Ranma reached the half way point between his and his parents' rooms, he heard a sound. Freezing, the young martial artist listened carefully, and his heart skipped a beat as he recognized the sound as someone climbing the steps. Since his mother was cooking and the footsteps were too heavy for Ukyou's light body, Ranma surmised that it was his father.

Once he'd ascertained that the approaching sound was Genma, Ranma almost panicked. Who knew how bad the beating would be this time...especially after the last time he'd been caught with the training manual. The Saotome heir was frozen in place by the sound of his approaching father, the boy's eyes darting about, rapidly trying to find a way out, but none presented itself.

After what seemed like an eternity of fear and hopelessness, a hand on the banister at the top of the stairs finally galvanized Ranma into action.

--

Genma sighed as he reached the crest of the stairs; the argument with his wife had not gone well. In fact, the man wouldn't be surprised if he was sleeping on the tatami in the tea room for the next few weeks—probably for just as long as Ranma and Ukyou were grounded, but that was intolerable! Of course, Genma didn't think his two students deserved to be grounded in any case. 'Oh well,' he thought with a mental sigh. 'Once she's made up her mind, Nodoka is immovable.' At that thought, a slight smile alighted on his face. 'Of course, her strength of mind is one of the reasons I married her in the first place. I really shouldn't be complaining about it, but...'

Deep in thought, Genma stopped walking about half way down the hall, contemplating his situation. The middle-aged man raised a hand to his chin as he thought, but his contemplation was interrupted by a feeling. 'Someone is watching me,' he thought, eyes narrowing.

Making sure that his movements remained casual, Genma turned to his right and opened the upstairs laundry closet. As he pretended to rummage through the neatly stacked towels and washcloths inside, the man's eyes darted from side to side. After a moment, a slight scowl formed on the martial artist's face. 'No one is there,' he thought with some trepidation. 'Either I'm losing my touch, or the person watching me is very, very good.'

Finally, after yanking a towel from the closet, Genma continued on toward his room. He walked slowly, extending his senses to try to find the source of his feelings, but to no avail. With a shrug, the elder Saotome slid the master bedroom shoji open on its runners and stepped inside.

--

Ranma finally released the breath he'd been holding the entire time his father had stood in the hall, his limbs quivering from holding his body to the ceiling above the laundry closet. The pint-sized martial artist almost dropped to the floor when the sliding door to his parents' room slammed back open and Genma's head popped out. The boy's entire body went tense as his father scanned the hall, scowling. After nearly a minute of waiting, the Saotome patriarch once again retreated into the master bedroom, and Ranma dropped from the ceiling and rushed into his room before his father could attempt to give him another heart attack.

Not really paying attention to his surroundings, Ranma slid closed the door to his room as quietly as the runners would allow, all the while scanning the hallway for any sign of his father. Just as the door closed, a small, slender hand landed on his shoulder.

"GAAHHH!!"

Ranma jumped high enough to knock his head on the ceiling, but his training kicked in. The boy landed in a low combat stance facing his attacker, practically gasping from adrenaline shock. Ukyou stood in front of him with a shocked look on her face, the towel she had been using to cover herself coming undone and falling to pool at her feet. Her eyes wide with shock, she could only manage a slightly strangled "Ran—Ranchan?"

Seeing that is was only Ucchan, Ranma relaxed a bit and came out of his combat stance. As per usual, his mind immediately analyzed the situation, and he almost involuntarily gave his best friend a once over. 'Damp hair – she just got out of the bath. Showing definition in arms and shoulders but not much bulk. No chest definition—that's strange; she's the same age as me. Good tone on the stomach.'

Suddenly, Ranma's eyes froze on one particular piece of his friend's anatomy, the sight derailing his quick combat analysis. 'What the heck is that?'

Having never really paid attention to Ukyou's body when they were in the bath and lacking the 'important talk,' Ranma just didn't know how to understand this particular difference. Therefore, he opted for the extremely intelligent response of standing there like an idiot staring at his best friend.

--

Ukyou stepped into the room she shared with Ranma, a towel wrapped around her torso. As the young Kuonji rummaged through the drawer of clothes, she heard the door to the room open. Pulling a pair of panties from the drawer and dropping them on her futon, she turned to the door. There was her best friend, crouching and closing the shoji softly. A light smile came to her face as she saw how focused he was on making sure the door made no noise, and she saw her opportunity. Walking up behind the pigtailed boy silently, she gently placed a hand on his shoulder.

"GAAHHH!!"

Ukyou didn't expect his reaction to be so extreme, and her surprise was evident as Ranma jumped high enough to hit his head on the ceiling. As he jumped, his heel caught the edge of the towel, jarring it enough to undo the fold that kept it around her torso. The girl was still in shock as her pigtailed friend landed in a low combat stance facing her. "Ran—Ranchan?" she said, stuttering a bit from surprise.

When she said that, Ranma relaxed a bit, standing from his crouching stance. She watched as his eyes gave her a quick once over, something she was accustom to from their sparring matches. She did the same thing, just as Saotome-sensei had taught her, but when her eyes returned from their analysis of his combat potential, she was surprised to see him staring. Of course, when she realized what he was staring at, her face went crimson with a blush.

Unlike Ranma's father, the Kuonji patriarch had given his daughter 'the talk' when she was only five. He had, of course, dumbed it down to the point that a five-year-old could understand, but Ukyou at least understood the difference between boys and girls.

"Ranchan!" she shouted at him, giving him a quick, but hard, slap that sent the dazed boy to the ground. Before the pigtailed boy could recover from the blow, Ukyou grabbed the towel and returned it to its original, modesty-preserving position.

"Ucchan, wha..." Ranma groaned as he sat up. "What happened?"

Ukyou's face turned a deeper shade of red as her friend spoke, and the blush now definitely extended past her neckline. "You were staring at me," she replied. "What'd ya think you were doing, ya jackass?"

--

Ucchan's question took Ranma by surprise; what had he been doing? Ranma quickly went over his memories before once again lapsing into a brief daze, his eyes almost glazing over. 'What was that?' he thought through the haze in his mind.

His best friend shaking him by both shoulders brought him back to reality. "Well?" she asked, a bit of anger seeping into her voice.

"Umm..." Ranma started, his voice weak. "Why don't you have a...I mean, why are we different...ya know...um...down there...?" The pigtailed boy's voice trailed off as he looked away from his friend sheepishly.

--

Ukyou sweatdropped. There really wasn't much else she could do.

"Ranchan..." she said, but her weak voice trailed off. "Ranchan, turn around for a minute."

The boy in question nodded and turned, and Ukyou raced for her discarded pair of panties, sliding them on quickly and moving on to the closet. Within thirty seconds, Ukyou was dressed.

"Okay, Ranchan," her voice stronger now that she was no longer a towel's falling from being naked. "You can turn back around."

When her friend turned, Ukyou could almost see his relief that she was fully dressed. That thought made the young girl grin wryly, and she sat down on her futon, motioning for him to do the same.

"Ranchan," she began. "Haven't your parents talked to you about the difference between boys and girls yet?"

The pigtailed boy mutely shook his head, mumbling "what difference" under his breath a moment later, and Ukyou thought a bit of his daze from earlier was still lingering, hazing his mind. To his response, she could only sigh.

"Well, this is really a question for your parents to answer, so I'm just gonna tell you one thing. What you saw was the biggest difference between boys and girls. I don't have what you have, and you don't have what I have."

While his expression seemed to say that he still didn't understand, he spoke in a stronger voice. "Okay, Ucchan. Let's just forget about this. I've got somethin' better for you to see, anyway."

Ukyou watched as her friend's expression went from hazy and dazed to excited in the second it took for him to change the subject. Quickly, Ranma reached into his shirt and pulled forth a thin, leather-bound book, his expression rapidly becoming bright and happy.

"I grabbed this from dad's backpack," he chirped, his voice overflowing with excitement. "It's a training manual to an awesome technique! But I need your help with the training."

"Hey!" she said, and immediately regretted her tone as the boy's face fell. Her voice changed from annoyed to nervous, and she continued a bit unsteadily, surprised that even her best friend could have such an affect on her. "I mean...I wanna learn the technique too... Wait a sec...you got that from Saotome-sensei's backpack?"

He nodded at her question, and the young Kuonji immediately felt worry flow on top of her nervousness. "Ranchan, don't you remember what happened the last time you took something out of Saotome-sensei's backpack? I practically had to help you back to the tent after..."

While she spoke, Ukyou was looking down, but as she trailed off, she looked up into Ranma's eyes. She was surprised to see nothing but confidence and excitement in those blue-grey orbs, and she found the mood contagious, a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.

"Don't worry, Ucchan," Ranma replied. "We just don't get caught. I figure we go train out in the woods behind the house."

Despite her misgivings, Ukyou put a hand to her chin, thinking. "That'll probably work. Okay, I'm in."

Ranma beamed at his friend's acceptance, and he immediately bounded from his seat, heading for the window. Before he reached the sill, the slightly younger girl asked, "What's the name of this technique, anyway?"

Still bubbling with happiness and excitement, Ranma replied, "It's called the Nekoken."

--

Ten minutes after asking Ukyou to help him, the two training partners sat in a small clearing some distance away from the Saotome home. Ranma sat down in the lotus position and set the training manual in his lap, almost reverently opening the leather cover to begin reading the training method for the technique. Out of the corner of his eye, the youngest Saotome saw Ucchan crouch to read over his shoulder. For her benefit, Ranma decided to read out loud.

"The Nekoken is an ex—exceeding...ly power...ful martial arts technique of the Musabetsu Kakuto Ryu. It is class—class—classified as an Ulti—Ultimate Final Technique by the Grand Master of Musabetsu Kakuto Ryu, but it must be taught to a stu...dent before he reaches the age of ten."

Ranma, who had been stuttering and sounding out words, stopped for a moment. However, before he could continue, Ukyou snatched up the manual and picked up where he left off. Ranma thought about attacking her and taking the leather-bound book back, but she seemed to be having an easier time reading it, so he let the incident slide.

"The training for this devi...stating technique is dec—decep—deceptively simple. First, dig a pit of no less than two meters wide by two meters long by three meters deep, and then—"

At that, Ranma snatched the book back and said, "Well, we know what we have to do first!"

"But, Ranchan," Ukyou began, but her friend cut her off.

"C'mon Ucchan!" said Ranma, a bit of urgency seeping into his voice. "If we're not back in my room before Okaasan calls for dinner, we're gonna be in alota trouble!"

Ranma turned without waiting for a response and raced for the house. After a moment, he could hear Ukyou close at his heels, and the two friends sped home.

--

"So, did you both finish your homework?" asked Nodoka, a ready smile for the two children despite what had happened earlier in the day.

"Yes, ma'am," they chirped in simultaneous, happy voices. Her smile grew at the sound, and she replied, "Alright, then. Come downstairs and have dinner."

Before the Saotome matriarch could blink, the two children jumped past her and headed for the stairs. Nodoka felt a warmth growing in her heart, pride and love for her son and his best friend filling her with happiness. 'Perhaps,' she thought, 'I'm being too harsh on them. After all, they don't really know any better, and Genma is hardly one to teach restraint.' At that thought, the middle-aged woman giggled a bit. 'No, Genma never was one for restraint. I guess it's up to me to teach them while they are here.'

With that last thought, Nodoka walked down the stairs to join her family, a happy smile still on her face. Of course, when she entered the tea room, that smile was sorely tested by the visage of her husband, son, and semi-adopted niece fighting like a pack of rabid wolves over her food. On anyone's face other than Nodoka's, the smile would have turned sickly and slid slowly into a frown, but the wife of Saotome Genma had an incredible degree of patience. As such, her smile only became a bit strained, and she cleared her throat.

Now, Nodoka knew and had observed that very action and many more extreme ones fail to even gain their attention, but this time it was her. That same smile that had become strained by their behavior was reinforced by the satisfaction of seeing Genma freeze. Her husband looked up at her and was rewarded with losing two skewers of yakitori from his plate before he regained his senses. When he finally did, his chagrin was increased at the loss of the food to his two students, and he tapped both children on the head with his hashi to gain their attention.

"Ranma! Ukyou!" he said, a bit of anger showing through his embarrassment. "This particular training method is unacceptable when we are in this home."

Genma's eyes flicked to his wife as he spoke, and Nodoka could see the relief in his eyes as the woman nodded her satisfaction at his handling of the situation. Finally, the Saotome matriarch took her place at the end of the table opposite Genma, Ranma to her left and Ukyou to her right.

"Now that I have your attention, children," she said in a quiet, confident voice. "When you are in my home, you will be receiving training from me. Especially you, Ukyou. There is much that you must learn about being a proper young lady, and no girl could learn such things from a man."

Nodoka paused for a moment as she let her words sink in. Her little speech about making Ukyou a proper lady was not only for the girl's ears, but also to plant the seed in her husband's mind regarding another idea that had recently presented itself to the Saotome woman.

"And as for you, Ranma," she continued, the boy in question looking suitably surprised that his mother had turned her attention on him. "A proper young man must know what is appropriate in a given situation. This particular behavior, as I understand it, is a speed training method, and while I can appreciate it during your training trip, when you are home I expect you to show some restraint."

Though her voice had no true severity or anger, Nodoka was surprised to see her son flinch at the word 'restraint.' It seemed that her earlier discussion with him had actually affected him. 'Very well,' she thought, and internal smile coloring the mental dialogue. 'I shall ask them if they will accept my training as well as Genma's.'

"Here is my proposal." She spoke calmly with a quiet confidence that she could tell impressed her son and his friend. "I shall train you in how to act properly in a given situation while you are here. Do you agree?"

Both children, their faces telling her that they were well and truly ashamed of their actions at the school, nodded their agreement with the Saotome matriarch. Nodoka was relatively certain that most of their shame came from the anger and disappointment she displayed the last time she spoke to the two as opposed to any real understanding of what they did wrong, but this was enough for the woman to begin to teach them. All in all, she was pleased with their response. Of course, Genma's expression told her that he would speak to her about this before the day was out, but Nodoka believed that she could convince him of the importance of her training.

A quiet, satisfied smile gracing her face, Nodoka began to enjoy her dinner.

--

Genma was almost done with his bath when the door to the furo slid open. The Saotome man was relatively unconcerned with any inhabitant of the home entering the bath as Nodoka was his wife (and he would be quite pleased to see her in the bath) and while on a training trip, privacy was something in short supply. So Genma didn't react to the wet, splashing footsteps that approached him from behind; however, he did smile when his wife's slender hand came to rest on his shoulder.

Truthfully, he didn't really mind his wife's insistence on training the children in proper Japanese etiquette, but he had to at least put up a token opposition. He knew that meant that Ranma and Ukyou would spend the vast majority of their time when they were in Sapporo with Nodoka, and he knew that such a use of their time would stifle their training a bit. However, he didn't believe it would be a significant problem, and indulging his wife's need to be a mother would be worth the slight stagnation.

His wife's voice interrupted his thoughts. "Genma, I know you probably don't want Ranma and Ukyou to stop their martial training for etiquette and proper behavior, but please, dearest. I believe that this is very important to their future. Especially for Ukyou."

Genma, still facing away from his wife, smiled slightly. She was playing on his feelings for his son and student. However, it wouldn't do to give in so easily, and the Saotome patriarch made certain that his voice was grave and disapproving as he replied. "Nodoka, you know that Ranma is the heir to the Saotome-style Musabetsu Kakuto Ryu, and that Ukyou's father entrusted me with Ukyou's training as a great martial artist. I cannot take those burdens lightly."

As he spoke, Nodoka's hand left his shoulder, and he heard the tell-tale splash of a bucket being used to begin washing. A moment later, the sound of a washcloth rubbing across bare skin reached his ears, and he had to fight the urge to turn around and watch his wife. In lieu of this action, he spoke again. "I cannot allow the children's training to stagnate, and any interruption at this stage would cause just that."

Once more, Genma heard the sound of a bucket being emptied, but this time the spray reaching his back was cold, accompanied by the sound of the bucket falling to the floor. The master of the Saotome Ryu cringed involuntarily as the cold water tried to activate his curse, but the still-hot water of the furo counteracted the transformation almost immediately. A moment later, a small, red fox jumped to the edge of the furo, looking up at him with eyes that promised a longer argument once she could articulate human speech again. With that one look, the fox hopped from the edge of the bath into the steaming water.

Nodoka surfaced quickly as the water changed her back into a human. Genma had to reflect on how cute her Jusenkyo form was, but he very much preferred her human body. As his wife took a position opposite him in the bath and stretched in ways that could enflame the most celibate man, the bald martial artist couldn't help but stare. The fact that Nodoka had that small, secret smile caressing her lips that every woman produced when they knew they were being watched and were making sure to give a good show didn't help clear his mind of its lustful thoughts.

Finally, after thoroughly stretching her body, Nodoka returned her eyes to her husband, that smile never leaving her lips. "You know my feelings on this matter, anata. And besides, it will teach them the restraint they so desperately need. That alone will help their martial training; we both know that part of the code is to restrain oneself from any unnecessary injury while still winning the battle."

"I realize that, beloved," answered Genma, deciding that while she was making extremely good points, he still needed to draw the discussion out further. "But between your insistence that they attend school and this etiquette training, they will have no time to train in the Ryu."

"Dearest," Nodoka replied, and Genma could tell from her tone that she knew he was only putting up a token defense. "I am not asking for a total cession of martial training. Only a reduction. They just won't have your normal six hour training session after school."

As she spoke, Genma watched her face. It was clear to the Saotome man that she knew she had only one more point to make before he would 'grudgingly' agree, and needless to say, by this point Genma was more interested in certain adult activities he could indulge in with his wife than a token argument over the children's training.

"I believe I have a mutually acceptable solution: you train them in the morning before breakfast, and then it's my turn between breakfast and school. After school, we continue to give them some free time, and about an hour before dinner I shall continue their training. Finally, after dinner and homework, you spar with them."

A smile crossed Genma's face; that was actually more training time than the man had expected from his wife. Giving her a smile, Genma replied, "Very well, wife. I suppose that will be acceptable."

Almost before he'd finished speaking, Nodoka leaned forward and gave him a deep, passionate kiss. The adult Saotomes did not leave the furo for some time after that.

--

The next few days went quite smoothly for everyone in the Saotome household. After apologizing to the school administration, Ranma and Ukyou were allowed to return, and although the other students definitely remembered what the two pint-sized martial artists had done, they didn't seem to hold it against them. It helped that neither child allowed for a repeat performance.

On the second smooth day, Nodoka decided to lift the grounding she'd placed on the children, and it brought a smile to her face to see the absolute exuberance they displayed as they raced off into the woods behind the house.

The schedule went well over the course of the week, and everyone involved seemed happy with the results. Genma did have to train the children harder since his time was limited, but he could still see results. As such, his complaints about time constraints were minimal.

Nodoka was impressed at how quickly the children learned proper behavior and that important quality: restraint. It seemed that once they accepted her training, both Ranma and Ukyou took their commitment very seriously, trying very hard to measure up to the Saotome matriarch's expectations.

For their part, Ranma and Ukyou still spent the vast majority of their time together. Each day they would wake up with Genma's martial training, and then, after an hour of training, they would take a bath. After that, Nodoka would instruct them in table manners and proper meal-time behavior during breakfast. Next up, school; at Nodoka's request, both children actually tried to apply themselves to learning. When their weekly report came home, both parents were quite pleased with their marks. When dinnertime came around, Nodoka would once again instruct the two (and sometimes Genma as well) in manners, and after the meal was complete, the auburn-haired woman would go over some more formal and informal settings. She included clothing, language, manners, and proper Japanese etiquette.

After that, the two children would do what little homework was given to second year primary school students and enjoy an evening spar with Genma. Finally, it was another bath and bed. Such a schedule kept the children very busy, but the time that both Ranma and Ukyou looked forward to the most was their free time between school and dinner. And not for the reason the parents thought. While most people would believe that the children were simply looking forward to a time where they could play together without it being a structured event, Ranma and Ukyou were excited about a completely different type of activity.

To understand their eager attitudes toward the activity that encompassed their free time, namely digging a large pit in the woods, one must first accept that they both wanted, more than almost anything else, to be the best martial artists ever. True, Ukyou actually wanted to be the best okonomiyaki chef more, but she still shared Ranma's passion for the Art. So, as the peaceful days continued, Ranma's and Ukyou's preparation for the Nekoken training proceeded apace.

--

Ukyou wiped her small forehead of the sweat and dirt as she turned toward her best friend. The two martial artists stood in a pit nearly three times as deep as they were tall, and twice their height in width and length. At an unspoken signal, both children stopped digging and looked to each other. Before Ukyou could say anything, Ranma spoke.

"So, wadaya think, Ucchan?" he asked, the hard labor of digging such a pit not dampening his enthusiasm at all. "Is it big enough yet?"

"Hmmm." Ukyou looked around at the nearly vertical dirt walls, nodding to herself as she measured the dimensions of the hole with her eyes. "I think so, Ranchan. Maybe we should take a look at the manual and see what the next step is."

"Okay."

Both children double corner jumped from opposite sides of the pit, their feet causing bits of earth to tumble from the walls of the pit, but this caused no appreciable damage to their work. Once at the top, Ranma walked over to a tree near the edge of the clearing, the one Ukyou knew to contain the Nekoken manual. The small girl ran to join her friend as the pigtailed boy wiped his hands on his pants. Finally, the two young martial artists sat on the ground near the tree as Ranma read from the manual.

"Once the pit is comp...comp—lete, a cover must be con...constr—construct—ted. The best me—thod— Hey!"

By this point, Ukyou was tired of listening to Ranma try to sound out the words, and she snatched the book from his hand. "Don't worry about it, Ranchan. I'll read it."

Ranma settled back with a sullen expression on his face, but he didn't protest any further. With a small, satisfied smile, Ukyou continued the passage.

"The best method of covering is a wood pallet, but tree branches will suf—suffice."

Nodding, Ranma snatched the book back. Ukyou gave him an annoyed look, but it faded as Ranma jumped up and replace the manual into the hollow of the tree. With that, he turned back to his friend. "I guess we know what's next. Let's find some branches to cover the pit!"

Nodding her assent, Ukyou watched him jog off into the woods, a faint foreboding forming in the pit of her stomach. For some reason, she was beginning to have misgivings about trying to learn a new technique without Saotome-sensei...and about the Nekoken in general. A martial arts technique that was learned in a pit seemed awfully dreadful to the little girl.

--

Ranma was very pleased with their progress as he and Ukyou found enough branches by the end of their free time to cover the pit. They only had twenty minutes before they had to be back at the house for dinner, and Ranma wanted to find out what was next in the preparations.

"Hey Ucchan," he practically chirped, his excitement over the new, powerful technique never fading. "Let's see what's next on the list!"

The dark-haired martial artist could tell that his friend was less enthusiastic about the concept than he, but he wrote it off to being tired after dragging all those branches back to the clearing. Snagging the training manual from its hiding place, Ranma opened it once again and began to read.

"Once the training pit is covered, there is...but one more prep...prep...ara...ation. Coll—ect not less than thir...ty cats and drop them into the pit. As you collect them...keep them well fed. How...ever, once all thir—ty are collected, they must be starved for at least three days before the training can com...com...comen—se."

Ranma scratched his head briefly at that last. 'Why would the kitties need to be starved?' he wondered. 'I guess its just part of the training.'

Ukyou looked even more worried after this particular passage, but Ranma let the expression go without comment. Replacing the manual in its hiding place, he said, "C'mon Ucchan! We gotta get back before dinner!"

With that, the pigtailed boy raced off, his friend close on his heels.

--

More days passed, smoothly from the adults' perspective. Genma continued to see improvement in his students despite the reduced training load, and Nodoka could see a marked improvement in her son and his best friend from her own training. The auburn-haired woman could see that Ukyou would always be something of a tomboy, but she could accept it if the girl knew how to act appropriately in important situations.

Ranma and Ukyou had a slightly different perspective as they set about catching thirty cats for the Nekoken training; the task was harder than it sounded. After only catching four the first day, Ranma decided that he needed to work harder, and he stepped up the pace, catching a full six the next day.

Ukyou, on the other hand, was feeling that same foreboding: a dreadful feeling deep inside every time she thought about the training. She began to fear that the training was nothing like what she'd been expecting, and this fear translated into the real world as a lack of enthusiasm in preparing for the Nekoken training. She could see that Ranchan was worried about her, but she didn't know how to articulate her fears into words. The feeling was just a nameless, shapeless sense of dread.

Finally, Ranma and Ukyou succeeded in catching a full thirty-two cats, and after giving them a final meal, did not return to their chosen clearing for three days, just as the manual directed. Before leaving on the last afternoon, Ranma and Ukyou read the next instruction, so they knew to bring several ropes of fish sausage when they returned.

--

The night before they were to begin the training, Ukyou lay next to Ranma in their bed, unable to sleep and sick with dread. Her stomach tingled with worry as she lay on her side, watching Ranma as he slept, blissfully unaware of her fear.

Without a lick of sleep the night before, Ukyou was noticeably subdued the next day, but when both Saotome parents asked, she replied that she simply wasn't feeling well. Nodoka almost didn't allow her to go to school, but the young Kuonji managed to convince her otherwise.

Ukyou spent the day at school walking as though in a trance. While she could see Ranma's worry when he glanced at her in class, she felt no comfort from those looks of concern, and during recess, she sat quietly under a tree, her expression worsening. Ranma tried to cheer her up, but since he was still under the impression that she just wasn't feeling well, he didn't pry.

Finally, the school day was over and Nodoka walked the children home. When they arrived, Ukyou followed Ranma upstairs to change out of her school clothes, the sick feeling still churning in her stomach.

Once the two children had changed, they walked down to the kitchen. Nodoka was doing laundry, so she didn't see Ranma swipe all of her fish sausage. As Ranma ran toward the clearing, his excitement never fading, Ukyou followed. The dread was almost enough to make tears flow from her eyes; 'What is making me so scared?' she asked herself, over and over.

Finally, they arrived at the clearing, and Ukyou's dread spiked. There was a terrible yowling sound coming from the pit as the half-starved cats cried out for food. The sound was pitiful and terrifying at the same time to the small girl: pitiful because she felt sorry for the poor kitties and terrifying because she was pretty sure that Ranma would have to go down there for his training. Certainly, Saotome-sensei had taught her that most training was painful, but she was beginning to think that this particular training would top anything she or Ranma had been through under the bald master of the Saotome Ryu.

Ranma, on the other hand, seemed to ignore the horrible yowling and crying of the cats in the pit, and Ukyou followed her friend to the tree where the Nekoken manual was secreted away. Ranma set the fish sausage on the ground and snatched the book from its hiding place, opening it quickly and reading loudly from the instructions.

"Once the train…ing pit is pre—prepared, it is time for the training to…begin. Wrap the subject of the Nekoken training in fish sau—sausage and place him in…the pit. The Nekoken is thus learned from cats them…themsel—ves."

Nodding quickly, Ranma snagged the ropes of fish sausage from the ground and held them out to Ukyou. "Okay, Ucchan!" he said enthusiastically. "Wrap me up, and I'll go down and learn the Nekoken!"

Ukyou stared at the links in Ranchan's hand, dumbfounded. Couldn't he hear the horrible yowling? Wasn't he afraid at all? Was he really this gung ho about the technique? Barely able to keep herself from shaking at the fear, coiling like a serpent in her belly, she slowly took the sausage ropes from Ranma and began to wrap him. She managed to hold her tears in until she was behind him.

--

Nodoka walked out of the laundry room with a smile on her face. After the children got home it was their playtime, and she was pleased with how the past couple of weeks had gone. As she continued toward the kitchen, eyes alert for any sign of dust or mess, she spotted something out of place. The refrigerator door was slightly ajar. Stepping quickly to the appliance, she opened the door. The auburn-haired woman's eyes widened when she saw that every bit of the fish sausage she had bought just today was gone from the shelf. She probably wouldn't have noticed if she did not plan to use some of the sausage for dinner that evening.

Over the past week or so, cans of tuna had been going missing from her pantry, but it wasn't enough to worry the Saotome matriarch. She chalked it up to Ranma or Ukyou or perhaps even Genma wanting a snack; she knew all three liked tuna. However, five whole ropes of fish sausage were a bit much for even both of the children, and Genma was out running errands.

'This is very strange,' she thought to herself. 'Maybe someone moved them.'

Absently, she opened the cabinet next to the sink and, removing a glass, began to pour herself a drink of water, her thoughts focused on where the links of sausage could possibly be.

--

Ranma stood with his arms outstretched for Ucchan to wrap the sausage around his shoulders and torso. His face never lost its enthusiastic, excited expression until Ukyou stepped behind him. At that moment, his face fell. The boy was doing everything in his power to shore up both his own and his best friend's courage, but he was slowly being overcome by a sense of dread.

It started when they'd come within earshot of the pit, and that horrific yowling reached his ears. It continued to grow with every step, but with Ukyou afraid as well, he was continuing to put on a brave face for the benefit of them both.

When he felt that Ukyou had finished tying the fish sausage around his small frame, Ranma turned around. He just barely caught Ukyou wiping an arm across her eyes, and his own blue-grey orbs widened as he thought, 'She's crying?!'

Aloud, with as much enthusiasm as he could muster, he said, "Why are you crying, Ucchan? I'm just gonna go learn a technique. We've done this typa thing lotsa times."

"R—Ranchan..." she replied, her voice cracking a bit and her eyes beginning to tear up again. " I've...I've got this hor—horrible feeling that this training is some—something terrible. Please! Please don't do it!"

Something inside Ranma told him that she was right. This training seemed too terrible for anyone to actually do, and it was cruel to all involved, the cats especially. However, the larger part of Ranma, the part that was a martial artist who would never back down from learning a technique no matter how terrible or painful, refused to give in to either his fear or the tears of his best friend. It was this part of him that put the cocky grin on his face and the confidence in his eyes. It was this part of him that said, 'I can do anything I put my mind to, and I can learn any technique! No stupid training, not even the Nekoken, is going to beat me!'

"Don't worry, Ucchan," he said, with both confidence and caring filling his voice. "I'll be fine. I can handle any training! Just you watch."

With that, before Ukyou could reply, the young Saotome turned and rushed for the pit. With a quick flick of his hands, he parted the branches covering the pit, and before either his better sense or Ucchan could stop him, he jumped into the dark.

--

As she shut off the water, a strange fear suddenly struck Nodoka, and the woman whirled to face the door. The glass of water, forgotten in her hand, splashed all across her neck and torso, and almost before she realized it, the change took place. A small, red fox slowly pulled herself from the Saotome matriarch's kimono, its damp fur hanging limply. One could almost see Nodoka's wry expression, though it was difficult to understand such expressions on the face of a fox.

The fox shook herself dry and was just about to jump onto the counter to use the hot water tap when a faint sound reached her now-extra-keen ears. She stopped for a moment, listening intently, and the sound came again, louder and more intense. She could almost believe that it was a number of cats, yowling at something.

Then, the woman turned fox heard something else, something that made her blood run cold. The sound no mother should ever have to hear. It was Ranma's scream, pain to the point of agony apparent in the ragged sound. Nodoka felt her heart skip a beat, and then she was running. Heedless of the fact that she probably couldn't do anything in her fox form, she rushed outside to aid her son.

Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Genma arriving home from his errands, and she saw that her husband had seen her and was following. 'Good,' she thought as she pushed herself to go faster, out into the forest where her son and Ukyou played every day. 'Genma will be able to help.'

Ranma screamed again, and Nodoka's thoughts became increasingly fearful for her son's safety. 'By the kami, what is happening to my son?!'

Finally, Nodoka broke through the undergrowth into a small clearing. Near a pile of branches, Ukyou looked to have slumped to her knees. She was crying loudly, her voice hoarse. Nodoka could hear her as she muttered.

"Ranchan...Ranchan...oh kami, Ranchan no..."

She was shaking, racked with sobs, seemingly completely overwhelmed by the situation, but Nodoka's attention was turned to the pile of branches by another scream. Forgetting all else, Nodoka raced forward, and without thinking, she leapt into the pile.

--

Ukyou watched in horror as Ranma dropped from sight into the darkness of the pit. Without thinking, the young Kuonji raced to the side and looked in, but the shock of what she saw left her in a state of paralysis. The cats swarmed over her friend, clawing and biting, attacking him for their first meal in three days. Tears flowed freely down her cheeks, and her breath seized in her throat as Ranma began to scream.

Vaguely, Ukyou could hear herself mumbling, praying, cursing, but she couldn't seem to move. As Ranma's screams became louder, she began to shake. Uncontrollably, she sank to her knees, sobbing, but she was unable to move from there. Shame also grew in the girl's heart at her inability and cowardice. She was so focused inwardly that she almost missed the red streak that flashed past her and into the pit.

With a ferocity she'd never seen before, the small red fox began to attack the cats, its small claws and sharp teeth coming close to killing many. It took Ukyou a moment to realize that it was Ranma's mother, and in that realization, that a non-martial artist could help her best friend while she could do nothing but watch, her shame reached a level intolerable to her. She fell forward, her hands barely supporting her as the contents of her stomach emptied onto the ground in front of her. As she spit the last bit of bile from her mouth, she heard a voice, a whisper of utter pain and fear, along with a deep, deep sadness.

"Oh kami-sama, no!"

--

Genma had a brown paper bag filled with a few groceries in one arm as he strode down the walk toward the Saotome home in Sapporo, his mind focused inward. There was a strange foreboding sensation filling the ambient ki surrounding his home, like when his danger sense warned him of an impending attack, and so, the Anything Goes master had been on edge all day. 'Something terrible is going to happen today...' he thought, his mind consumed with worry. 'I can't allow anything to happen to my family.'

As he reached the half-way-point of the walk, a red blur streaked from the house toward the woods. Recognizing Nodoka in her fox form, Genma immediately dropped the bag of groceries, ignoring the sound of shattering glass as he raced after his wife without thought, instinct spurring him to action. After a couple of seconds, he lost track of her, but by then, he could hear the screams, shrill and full of pain.

'Ranma!' he cried in his mind. 'By the kami, what's happening to you to make you scream like that!?'

With those thoughts, the Saotome patriarch forced himself to run faster, bounding from tree to tree in great leaps to reach his son. Finally, he burst into the clearing just in time to see Nodoka leap into a pit in the center. He noticed Ukyou emptying her guts on the ground, her body shaking with sobs, but then a memory hit him. His eyes scanned the clearing, taking in everything, and the master of the Saotome-style Musabetsu Kakuto Ryu began to tremble.

"Oh kami-sama no!" came his tortured whisper

'This...this can't be...' he thought in horror. 'This is...the Nekoken training. Just as it said in the manual...just like when Otousan showed me."

Shaking himself of the thoughts and memories, Genma raced forward, intent on saving his wife and son. He briefly noted that Ukyou had passed out next to the pit, but his mind was already in the pit with his son and wife. Without thought, he dropped the three meters to the bottom.

A scene from a nightmare awaited the elder Saotome's eyes as he surveyed the earthy floor. Nodoka had managed to force the cats from their son, but now the half-crazed felines faced off against the small red fox who, while nearly twice the size of any one of the cats, still couldn't possibly fend off every one. Ranma was there, too, the remains of several ropes of fish sausage adorning his battered body. The seven-year-old was unconscious and bleeding from hundreds of cuts all over his small body.

Allowing his instincts to take over once more, Genma scooped up his wife and son, one in each arm, and leapt out of the oppressive darkness. A few of the cats managed to bite or claw his legs as he escaped, but they did no serious harm.

As soon as Genma's feet touched the grassy earth of the clearing, he set Ranma and Nodoka on the ground next to Ukyou and drew the small bottle of hot water he carried at all times from his gi. The water was barely warm enough to trigger the change, but luckily, it did its job. Nodoka, naked as she was, immediately was at her son's side. Genma briefly checked on Ukyou, pulling her from the puddle of vomit, but she seemed to have just passed out. He set her down next to Ranma and began to examine his son.

--

Ranma's confidence lasted until his feet touched the soft earth that was the floor of the pit, and then the cats surged forth. The boy cried out as the cats overran him and pulled him to the ground. Their claws and teeth tore his skin, feeling like fire, and the Saotome heir desperately covered his eyes as he screamed in pain.

Then there was darkness.

He knew that the felines were still biting and clawing at his body and that he was still screaming in veritable agony, but it was distant...like it was happening to someone else. He was just aware of the suffering.

Then there was fear.

There was something in the darkness with him. Something dark and primal. It hungered, he could feel it. It hungered for awareness. The hunt. The feel of its claws tearing into its prey, and its teeth stinking deeply into flesh. The taste of blood and the sound of a dying scream.

It was terrifying...and it was a part of him.

He could feel it, and through all the fear, all the pain, he was most afraid of the greater darkness existing in this shadowed area of his mind. It was coming closer. And closer. Ranma was to the point of gibbering, the fear was so great, and still, the pain from his distant body continued to seep into his awareness.

He could feel its eyes moving across his flesh, its hunger for his blood. It stalked him in the darkness, and all he could do was try to flee, all the while knowing it was futile.

He felt it leap, its claws extended and its fangs bared, ready to rend the flesh of his throat. He felt its anticipation even as his own fear made him fall into a cowering, pathetic creature truly worthy of being only prey. And just as he anticipated the swipe of claws to disembowel him and the razor's edge of its fangs to slide into his skin and the muscle below, it was gone.

Along with it went the preternatural fear. However, the very memory of the creature filled him with unreasoning terror.

The darkness lightened, and slowly, Ranma's eyes opened. Otousan was leaning over him, the worry in his eyes evident. Ranma opened his mouth, and his dry throat tried to speak, but all he managed to croak before a blessed, dreamless unconsciousness claimed him was, "Otousan..."

--

Fear and sorrow filled Genma as Ranma lapsed back into unconsciousness, and he quietly stroked his son's cheek, heedless of the blood. Even together, the cuts covering his son's body were not life threatening, but the damage to his son's ki was impossible to miss. The Nekoken training was well and truly started.

"Nodoka," he whispered, his emotions bleeding through into his voice. "Please help me carry the children back to the house."

When Nodoka didn't move, Genma looked at her, flinching as he saw the mix of anger and fear covering her face. "Genma!" she almost shouted, her voice filled with the emotions shown on her face. "What in kami-sama's name happened here?!"

Hefting his son, Genma replied, "It is the training method for a martial arts technique; one I hoped Ranma would never even know about, much less try to learn. The Nekoken."

--

Seeing that her husband wanted to get Ranma back to the house quickly, Nodoka knelt beside Ukyou and lifted the small, unconscious girl into her arms, heedless of the vomit that still covered the front of her shirt. The yowling of the cats in the background made for a terrible wailing, and the Saotome matriarch wished nothing more than to be away from it.

As she followed her husband, a few words came to her mind, and without thinking about it, she voiced them in whispered tones. "At least it's over."

Genma surprised her by answering, his voice tired and sorrowful. "It isn't over. It's nowhere near over. Once begun, the Nekoken training must be completed. The alternative is even worse."

A chill that had nothing to do with her nudity settled over Saotome Nodoka, and she was certain that she did not want to know what could possibly be worse than what she had just witnessed.

--

Author's Notes:

The next chapter of Family Curse is 'The True Nekoken Training.' I was going to write the whole Nekoken episode into one chapter, but when this chapter reached about 16 pages, I decided against that line of reasoning. In any case, I always look forward to people reviewing my work, so please, good or bad, drop me a line.

Later all.


	6. Chapter 5: The True Nekoken Training

Family Curse

A Ranma ½ fanfic by jimra

Disclaimers are for those who are not stalked by the darkness within, and that excludes Ranma in this particular part. However, I will give a darkfic warning up front. Then again, it would be hard to believe the Nekoken training in detail could possibly be anything but a dark and disturbing part, right?

Chapter 5: The True Nekoken Training

--

Nodoka entered the children's room carrying a now-clean Ukyou just in time to see her husband finish binding Ranma's wounds, the man's eyes carefully scanning the child for any damage he might have missed. The Saotome matriarch quickly dressed her unconscious charge in pajamas and gently set her in the bed next to her best friend, and almost immediately, the little girl curled into a ball in her sleep, just one more indication of the traumatic events that had occurred earlier in the day. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Genma nod to himself, obviously satisfied with the bandages now wrapping most of their son's body, and he stood. The auburn-haired woman looked directly into her husband's eyes, seeing the pain and fear there, and he nodded toward the door. Quietly, Nodoka walked to the open shoji and stood, waiting for her husband to follow. Genma took one more long look at the sleeping form of their son before turning and exiting the room, and Nodoka quickly followed, carefully sliding the door closed without making a sound.

Genma did not stop outside the shoji, but rather, he walked directly down the stairs. Nodoka followed her husband down and into the kitchen, where the bald martial artist poured himself a glass of cold sake. This, Nodoka knew, was an indication of tremendous stress on her husband's part; he never liked his sake cooler than steaming, saying that it was not enjoyable otherwise. To drink sake at room temperature, he must be very worried indeed.

After Genma finished his first glass in one long pull, he poured himself another and, after a moment, he poured a second one. Silently, he handed his wife the second glass, and Nodoka's worries reached new highs; Genma knew that she did not even like the rice wine, so handing her a glass of the traditional Japanese alcohol indicated that this discussion would be extremely troubling.

Still without speaking, Genma picked up the sake bottle and walked into the tearoom, and after pulling a leather-bound book from the shelf, he seated himself at the table, laying the book in front of him. Nodoka followed, after a moment's hesitation, settling opposite her husband at the table and looking with some trepidation at the book. Finally, after drinking half of his second glass, he spoke.

"Nodoka," he said, his voice tired and full of pain and sorrow. "You must be wondering what was going on in that clearing." The auburn-haired woman nodded mutely, and he went on. "That was the training method for a powerful martial arts technique, the Nekoken."

Nodoka felt her anger rising. If Genma was teaching her son in such a barbaric manner, she might have to invoke the contract. Her anger must have shown on her face since Genma winced and quickly said, "I never wanted either of the children to even know of the technique, much less learn it."

Nodoka calmed, replying, "Then what happened, anata?"

Genma sighed before continuing. "I assume that Ranma or Ukyou stole the manual from my pack. It was probably our son, since I caught him once, reading the manual during our trip. I took it away from him, but I guess he must have read enough to know that it described the training method for a powerful technique." A bit of wistful pride broke through Genma's sorrowful mask as he continued, "Ranma has always been excited to learn a new technique…and impatient as well."

The master of the Saotome Ryu stopped there, draining the rest of his glass and pouring himself another. While he nursed his third cup of sake, Nodoka asked, her voice incredulous, "What kind of martial arts technique requires a pit of cats?"

"The Nekoken," Genma replied, "makes the practitioner nearly invincible. It increases speed, agility, strength, and balance to an incredible degree, and the full master of the technique can manipulate his ki to create razor-sharp claws that are capable of shredding almost any material. There are, however, two drawbacks."

The Saotome matriarch, despite her dislike of sake, found herself taking a long swig from her glass, not even tasting the liquid, as Genma continued. "The first drawback is the obvious cruelty involved in the training, which cannot be performed on a student over the age of ten. In the words of the creator of the Cat Fist, 'A student over the age of ten can usually fend off the cats, and such a student has generally already formed a strong, complex personality and self identity.'" Genma paused for a large swallow. "That last bit leads into the second drawback: the practitioner must literally go insane to use the technique to its fullest potential. He will be afraid of cats, and when exposed to them, he will become a cat, mentally."

At that last statement, Nodoka drained her glass, quickly pouring another from the bottle on the table. Imagining her son mentally becoming a cat disturbed her greatly, and she almost did not want her husband to continue. However, Nodoka was made of stronger stuff than that, and her only question to Genma was, "What can be done?"

Genma sighed. "Later masters, realizing that super-powerful, uncontrollable martial artists were more of a liability than an asset, found ways to manipulate the training so that the practitioner does not fall into the cat state, and while that limits the effectiveness of the technique, it is preferable to the insanity. The problem is, these techniques are even more painful, and they require the trainee to repeat the initial training many times."

Nodoka's eyes widened. "You mean, put Ranma back in that pit?! No! We will just have to leave it alone!"

If anything, the pain in Genma's eyes increased at her outburst, and he replied, "That is impossible now, No-chan. Once begun, the training must be completed or Ranma will always be like those that just had the initial training. The training actually alters the ki of the subject, and without the complete training, he will slip into the insane state when exposed to cats."

"Then you must finish this training?" Nodoka asked, already knowing the answer. "There is no other way?"

"There is no other way, No-chan," replied Genma, his tone resigned.

--

Ukyou started awake in the darkness, fear crystallizing around her heart like ice. Slowly, the ice began to melt as she realized that she was curled up in a ball on the bed she shared with her best friend, and it was dark because it was night outside. She stretched out on the bed and rolled onto her back, trying to figure out how she got there. Unconsciously, her hand snaked out, clasping Ranma's hand for comfort, and she was surprised to feel bandages wrapped around her best friend's unmoving palm and fingers.

Twisting around to part the curtains, Ukyou looked at the visage of her friend, eyes widening in horror. Most of the pigtailed boy's body was wrapped in gauze bandages, some having darkened from staunching the flow of blood from one laceration or another. Her friend's eyes were shut, but the sense Ukyou got from Ranma was not of peaceful sleep, but one of blank unconsciousness. It was as if her best friend's soul was missing from his body. In fact, the small chef would have thought her friend dead if not for the slow, rhythmic rise and fall of his chest.

"Ranchan," she whispered, racking her memory in order to remember what had happened to him, but it simply would not come. Silent tears traced lines down the girl's face as she clung desperately to her best friend's hand, and Ukyou spent the rest of the night searching unsuccessfully for some way to comfort her friend and herself.

--

Nodoka and Genma entered the children's room just after sunrise, the cheerfully bright light and merrily singing birds seeming to be a travesty after what had happened to their son. Nodoka herself still could not quite wrap her mind around the fact that Ranma had done this to himself, not once thinking about what the training would be like. She certainly could not expect a seven-year-old to think rationally about these things, but the consequences were almost more than she could bear. The fact that her husband had told her that it would become far worse before it got better left her at a point beyond that which words can describe.

As they entered, the sight of little Ukyou, hugging Ranma's unconscious form and silently crying into his gauze-covered chest made Nodoka's heart clench, and the auburn-haired mother quickly outpaced her husband, gathering Ukyou into her arms. That action actually required some effort, as the little girl clung to Nodoka's son with a strength that most would find impossible in a child her age, but in the end, the Saotome matriarch succeeded. Ukyou, now lacking the object of her concern, immediately latched onto the older woman, shuddering sobs shaking her small frame.

"It will be alright, Ukyou-chan," Nodoka cooed soothingly into the small girl's ear, stroking her soft brown hair. "It will be alright."

Genma then got her attention, saying, "No-chan, you and Ukyou stay in the house. I am going to take Ranma into the dojo…to continue the training. What ever you hear, don't come in. This is for your own protection, so don't argue with me No-chan."

His voice was so adamant, so unyielding, that Nodoka found herself nodding before she even thought about his command, but in all things martial, Nodoka knew that Genma was the expert and master. Firming her own resolve, the auburn-haired woman answered, "Yes, husband."

Nodding back to her, Genma's face softened. "I also have a request," he said. "I don't know how long it will take me to complete the first phase of the training, but we will need the cats for the second. Please feed them each day."

A heavy feeling of dread and revulsion settled in the pit of Nodoka's stomach at the thought of even returning to the clearing where those awful yowls emanated, but considering her conversation with Genma the previous night, the Saotome matriarch understood the necessity of his request. Again, she nodded her assent to her husband.

Genma leaned over their son, giving his bandages a quick once-over, and he said, "After I change a few of these bandages, we are going to begin."

Not wanting her husband to see the pain on her face, Nodoka turned from the room and left, carrying Ukyou down the stairs to the kitchen where she could gather some tuna to feed the source of her son's pain.

--

Making certain that the doors to the dojo were locked securely, Genma looked back at his comatose son lying bonelessly on the wood floor. Almost shuddering at the pain he was about to inflict upon his son, the Master of the Saotome Ryu walked slowly over to the boy, kneeling in front of his small form.

"Son," said Genma, his voice heavy with sorrow, "I never wanted you to have to go through this pain, but now it is unavoidable. I'm sorry."

Pushing his memories and regrets away, Genma set about his task, bracing himself against his son's likely reaction to the first of many painful encounters with the Touched Soul technique. Interlacing his fingers with those of his son, the gi-clad man began to focus his ki into his hands, and clenching his teeth, he began to force his ki into Ranma's ki paths, forcibly widening them. Ranma's reaction was predictable, considering the soul-searing pain that this technique caused, and Genma winced as his son screamed, the boy's eyes flying open.

Continuing to increase the pressure and amount of ki he was using, the Musabetsu master began to shape the ki paths in Ranma's arms, removing the twists and kinks that the initial Nekoken experience had put there. Ranma, for his part, continued to scream, and the first of many kicks connected with Genma's gut, causing the older man to grunt.

Heedless of his son's continuous attacks, the bald martial artist pressed on, moving beyond Ranma's arms and into the chakra points at his son's center. At this point, the pigtailed boy finally passed out from the pain, and Genma felt a few tears leak out of his eyes. Nonetheless, this was necessary, and the elder Saotome would continue until the task was complete.

--

At the first screams from inside the dojo, Ukyou had reflexively tried to go to her best friend, banging on the locked doors, but Nodoka had quickly restrained the girl, who once again latched onto the older woman. The cries of pain did not stop for nearly an hour, and the two females spent that hour sitting in the tearoom, both silently crying.

Finally, the screaming ended, and an ominous silence settled over the house. Genma still had not come out of the dojo, but at least the auditory evidence that Ranma was in pain had ceased. An hour later, Ukyou managed to let go of the Saotome matriarch, and the elder woman had left to purchase additional tuna and cat food. For the young Kuonji girl, time seemed to crawl by as she sat, staring at nothing. Somewhere deep down, Ukyou blamed herself for what Ranma was going through; shouldn't she have done something to stop him from jumping into the pit?

Morning turned into afternoon as the traumatized girl sat, never moving more than to breath, and when Nodoka placed lunch in front of her, Ukyou just stared at the food. She knew, peripherally, that the elder woman was worried about her, but the budding chef could not seem to rouse herself from her depressed state.

Finally, as the sun was setting, the doors to the dojo opened, and Ukyou looked up to see a weary-looking Genma walking out of the fighting hall carrying the limp, unconscious form of her best friend. The master of the Saotome-style Musabetsu Kakuto Ryu walked into the tearoom slowly, and after settling his son on a couple of cushions, he walked into the kitchen, returning quickly with a large glass of sake and sitting next to Ranma at the table.

Presently, Nodoka joined the other three, laying out a sparse meal of rice, pickles, and grilled salmon, but Genma held up a hand when she moved to rouse Ranma for dinner. "Don't wake him, No-chan," he said. "He shouldn't eat anything during this phase of the training."

Dinner was a morose affair, no one speaking, and once the silent meal was consumed, Genma rose, and picking up his son, the Saotome patriarch carried Ranma up to his room, followed quickly by Ukyou. The brown-haired girl watched as her sensei put Ranma in their bed, and after he left, she quickly changed into her pajamas and joined her best friend in bed, holding him close until she fell asleep.

--

As he was walking back down the stairs from the children's room, Genma felt tears falling silently from his eyes, his actions, and those he would still have to do, forcing the emotional response. Sitting down at the table, he sighed heavily, but an arm encircling his shoulders did give him some comfort. Reciprocating his wife's gesture, Genma drew Nodoka into a loving hug, murmuring, "This will take some time, my kitsune."

--

Over the course of the next four days, Genma repeated his actions, using the Touched Soul technique to strengthen, widen, and shape his son's ki paths in order to prepare him for his return to the pit. The imperfect Nekoken, the one taught only with the pit, would leave the subject insane, having a severe phobic reaction to cats, but using the Touched Soul to guide the student's ki development would limit that fear. Certainly, it took a great deal of time, much more than with the imperfect version, to manifest all of the attacks available to a Nekoken master, but the learner would remain sane.

On the third day of the Touched Soul training, Genma ordered that the cats be starved once again in preparation for the second phase of the True Nekoken training, and on the fifth day, the Master of the Saotome Ryu finally woke his son in a more normal way than using the Touched Soul.

--

Eyes wide with fear, Ranma followed his father through the woods; only a week previous, this path led to a place where he thought he would learn a great new technique. However, after five days of intense, mind-numbingly painful training and his initial foray into the pit, Ranma was, for the first time in his young life, truly terrified.

"I don't want to go back into the pit, Otousan," he tremulously said.

Genma stopped as he spoke, turning to his son. Ranma could see the sadness and resignation in his father's eyes as he said, "I'm sorry, son, but there is no other way. Once begun, the training must be completed."

Shoring up his courage as much as he could, the pigtailed boy nodded, and Genma continued leading him toward the pit. As they approached, Ranma could hear the terrible yowling of the starving cats, and that was almost enough to break the young martial artist's resolve, only the stoic form of his father giving him the resolve to continue.

They arrived at the training site five minutes later, the sound of the cats within the pit causing Ranma's skin to crawl, and he stood there trembling in fear as Genma opened a bag he had carried with them, wrapping the contents, long cords of fish sausage, around his small, gi-clad frame. Once Genma had finished, in an encouraging voice, he said to his son, "Once in there, do whatever your instincts tell you, and in that manner you will learn the technique."

Nodding shakily to his father, Ranma stepped forward, fear already clutching his heart like icy claws, but nonetheless, the young martial artist stepped off the edge into the nightmare.

Like déjà vu, Ranma watched as the cats surged forward, and just like before, he was pulled to the ground, the agony of rending claws and biting teeth becoming distant. Again, he felt the predator, that primal, savage part of himself in the darkness, stalking him, and the fear was palpable. He ran from the dark beast, trying to hide, but there was no escape, no solace. Finally, the creature leapt at him, his fear peaking.

This time, however, nothing stopped the beast from claiming its prize.

--

It took all of Genma's willpower to watch his son enter the pit, and he almost leapt after him when the screams of pain and fear began to emanate from the pit, only the knowledge of the alternative, the imperfect Nekoken, keeping him from saving his son from this nightmare. After about ten minutes, Ranma's screams cut off, and the elder Saotome was about to jump into the pit, since this part of the training was useless if Ranma fell unconscious. Another sound stopped him from entering the pit, a deeper yowling than the other cats, and Genma braced himself.

In an explosion of flying cats and tree branches, Ranma emerged from the pit, crouching on all fours and growling at Genma. The master of the Saotome Ryu fell into a stance, facing off against his now-bestial son. He had known that this was the result of the imperfect Nekoken, but the bald man had not expected Ranma to reach this state after only two trips into the pit.

Before Genma could continue along that line of reasoning, Ranma leapt at him, and the Saotome patriarch was reminded of why the Nekoken training was almost as dangerous to the teacher as to the student as Ranma used a ki claw to open a long slash down his right forearm. Ignoring the pain, Genma swept forward, using all his skill and speed as a practitioner and master of the Musabetsu Kakuto Ryu to close with his son's berserker state. Thankfully, since this was Ranma's first time using the uncontrollable Nekoken state, the boy was somewhat awkward in his actions, and Genma managed to snag the boy's left arm.

'Now for the hard part,' thought Genma, hoping his son did not hurt him too badly as the man moved into the third phase of the true Nekoken training. Hitting a pressure point on Ranma's shoulder that would temporarily immobilize the limb, the elder Saotome interlaced his fingers with those of his son, initiating the Touched Soul technique. Ranma hissed and yowled in pain as Genma began using his own ki to once again straighten the younger Saotome's ki paths, and Genma winced in pain as the boy's ki claws pierced the back of his hand. Regardless of the pain, the Saotome master used his son's distraction to snag his other hand, forcing even more of his ki into his son.

As he worked, Genma stared into Ranma's eyes, watching for some effect as he forcibly straightened the ki paths, in effect, forcing the berserker to become subordinate to his son's original personality. For now, the boy's eyes were empty, those of an animal that lived solely on instinct, but after about ten minutes of agonizingly slow work, Genma saw a change, ever so small. The light of consciousness was slowly returning to Ranma's eyes, though it was still mixed with bestial rage and agony.

It took nearly an hour, but slowly Ranma's yowls changed into human screams, and the ki claws vanished as the young Saotome's original, human personality subsumed the beast. Finally, when he could see nothing but a human will in Ranma's eyes, Genma released him, the boy falling to the ground and convulsing, as though he had touched a live wire. Exhausted from the extensive ki drain using the Touched Soul while keeping his son from gutting him, Genma fell to one knee beside his son.

"Is it over, Otousan?" whispered Ranma, finally lying still, but the boy's tone one of both terror and exhaustion.

"Not yet, son," answered Genma, regret in his exhausted tone. "Soon, but not yet."

--

Because they were both injured and exhausted, Nodoka had to dress the wounds on her husband and son, but she was just glad that Ranma, for the first time in nearly a week, was conscious in her presence. The week had been hellish, one where a mother had to willingly listen to her only son screaming in agony every day, but Genma had assured her that it was all necessary. Seeing Ranma once again conscious, if subdued, reinforced her trust in her husband. Her son was getting better, despite the brutality of the method.

Ranma was once again covered in scratches and bites from the cats, which was to be expected since phase two of the training involved his return to the pit, but the state of her husband was what really concerned the Saotome matriarch. Between the long slash down his forearm and the four deep puncture wounds in the back of each of his hands, Nodoka was seriously thinking of driving him to the hospital for stitches, only the fact that she couldn't explain what had happened to Genma stopping her from such actions. As such, the auburn-haired woman was glad that she had taken some nursing classes when she was younger, and while a doctor would probably done a better job, she had sewn her husband back together with some black thread she kept in the family medical kit. It was always best to be prepared when everyone in your family was a martial artist.

The family sat down for dinner together for the first time since Ranma had originally entered the pit, but it was a quiet affair. Although he had not eaten in six days, Ranma picked at his food, barely eating half of his rice, and when Nodoka questioned him about his lack of appetite, he just said that he wasn't hungry.

Deciding leave it at that, the Saotome matriarch just nodded at her son, and when he asked to be excused, she nodded her assent, Ukyou leaving the table with him. Turning to her husband, Nodoka asked, "How much longer, Genma?"

"The training has five phases, No-chan," he answered, his voice heavy. "We finished phase three today, so perhaps a week or two, depending on how well Ranma takes to learning phase four."

Sighing, Nodoka moved to sit next to her husband, wrapping her arms around her love and drawing what comfort she could from his embrace.

--

After having a bath, Ranma was lying on the bed he shared with his best friend, a haunted look on his face. He could remember everything up to when the beast leapt at him, but from there until he found himself in agony facing his father, there was nothing. The only clues he could find from the missing segment of time were the odd emotions he had felt when he was becoming conscious. Ranma was incredulous at having such emotions; the boy could not comprehend the bloodlust, the savage need for the hunt, which had been practically vibrating in him as he awoke.

Before he could continue along that line of reasoning, Ukyou entered the room, wearing her pajamas. Not saying a word, the brown-haired girl climbed into the bed next to him, putting her arms around him in a tight embrace. Reciprocating the gesture, Ranma held his best friend close; it was obvious from her expression that he was not the only one having a rough time with the training.

"Ranchan," asked Ukyou, her voice small and weak, "are you okay now?"

"I dunno, Ucchan," he answered, his voice equally tremulous. "Dad said that I've completed more than half of the training on the way back, so I hope so."

Ukyou began to tremble, so Ranma tightened his embrace on her, stroking her back. "I'm just glad you didn't go into the…the pit."

When she didn't answer, Ranma looked down, finding his best friend asleep in his arms. Shifting slightly, careful not to wake her, the pigtailed martial artist reached down and drew the blankets over them, holding his best friend until he fell asleep.

--

The next morning found Genma and Ranma in the dojo, but this time the elder Saotome was not preparing for another round of Touched Soul training.

"Alright, Ranma," said Genma, his voice once again confident. "It's time for you to learn the Touched Soul. That will allow you to manage your own ki paths, and thus keep the berserker state in check."

"Hai, Otousan," replied the newly confident student.

"Since I've used the technique on you," Genma continued, happy that his son was recovering well from the traumatic Nekoken training, "you will notice that your ki paths are much larger and more ordered, and this will make you much more adept at manipulating your ki. Now it is time to learn how to do so."

Motioning for his son to imitate him, Genma knelt on the dojo floor in seiza. "Close your eyes and meditate, son. Control your breathing and feel the flow of ki through your body."

--

Ukyou knelt outside the dojo, mimicking the position of her sensei and best friend. Although she was not formally a part of this training, the young chef was still trying to learn something, and the best way at the moment seemed like participating incognito.

--

It had taken two weeks, but Ranma was finally able to control his ki using the Touched Soul technique, and the young martial artist was now capable of summoning a thin battle aura at will. It had been a long and painful trek, but the pigtailed boy was within sight of finishing the Nekoken training, and for Ranma, it was not a moment too soon. He was ready to put this whole traumatic experience behind him. Of course, his father had explained what the final phase of the training was after practice today, and Ranma was at least apprehensive about it. 'I have to go in the pit again…' he thought, fear tingeing his mental tone.

The night before, as he and Ucchan had been in bed, the girl had asked him about the final phase, and after he had answered truthfully, Ucchan had cried herself to sleep in his arms. Now, though, his best friend was accompanying his father and him to the pit, and she would not answer why. Even Genma had warned her not to join them, but Ukyou was resolute.

The yowling from the pit was the same, and the fear coiling in Ranma's stomach still tried to make him run away, hiding from this responsibility. However, the added confidence from consciously taking control of his ki paths buoyed the pigtailed boy, allowing him to face the final phase of training without trembling in fear. Glancing at Ukyou, Ranma could see that her skin was pale with fear, and he tried one last time to convince her not to watch.

"Ucchan, why don't you go back to the house and wait with Okaasan?" he asked. "You don't look so good."

Ukyou only closed her eyes and shook her head, not answering vocally, and Ranma sighed. Obviously, Ucchan would not be daunted.

As the three martial artists entered the clearing, Ranma stepped forward, allowing Genma to wrap him in fish sausage once again. 'It's almost over. It's almost over," became Ranma's mental mantra, and with resignation, the seven-year-old walked to the edge of the pit. Taking a deep breath, and without looking back, he jumped in.

This time, as the cats surged forward and he felt himself once again being stalked in the darkness, Ranma applied the Touched Soul training, manifesting his battle aura. Suddenly, the bloodthirsty beast in the darkness with him stopped, and he could feel its uncertainty at this turn of events. Still, the creature felt the unending need to dominate this prey, and soon it approached once more, if somewhat more cautiously.

Ranma stood his ground against the berserker, clenching his teeth in concentration to avoid his terror. As his father had taught him, give in to the terror for even a moment and the beast would win. Since offence was often the best defense, Ranma attacked first, punching the berserker personality in the muzzle, which had taken the form of a black bengal tiger here in his mindscape. The creature yowled in anger and pain, and Ranma could feel its incredulity at its prey attacking back.

Managing to dodge its riposte, the pigtailed boy lashed out again, this time with a hammer fist to the beast's back, followed with a knee to its gut and a side kick that knocked the tiger to the ground. In a flash, however, the berserker was back on its feet, and Ranma failed to dodge its answering leap. The beast's forepaws slammed into his shoulders, claws extended and ripping into his flesh, and the tiger bore him to the ground. It was over a moment later, and Ranma's world faded to black when the tiger's jaws snapped toward his throat.

--

Ukyou screamed in fright when her best friend leapt out of the pit, showering the area with pieces of the branches that had once covered the opening, and Ranma landed in front of her, crouched on all fours, hissing. Unfortunately for her, a stray piece of debris had hit Genma in the head, knocking her sensei out, so Ukyou was essentially alone with the beast her best friend had become.

"R—ranch—chan?" she stammered, trembling in fear of her friend-turned-berserker.

Ranma's bestial, empty eyes turned toward the seven-year-old girl, narrowing as he studied her, and Ukyou had to swallow the lump that formed in her throat, her terror growing greater every second that passed.

Suddenly, Ranma leapt at her, and the little girl let out a shrill scream as she fell to the ground under her best friend's assault. The only thing that stopped the cry was the sound emanating from Ranma after he landed…the young boy had curled up in Ukyou's lap and was purring loudly.

Ukyou raised a trembling hand, experimentally petting Ranma's head, and the purring increased in intensity. Finally feeling her fear receding, Ukyou resigned herself to sitting here, petting her best friend, until Saotome-sensei woke up.

--

"I can't believe I failed again!" ranted Ranma, sitting at the table for dinner following his second attempt to finish the Nekoken training, but Nodoka was simply relieved that her son was becoming animated again. For too long, the Saotome matriarch had seen nothing but fear, pain, and horror in her son's eyes, and even this anger was better than that. Still, she longed for the days when Ranma would be happy again.

"Have patience, son," answered Genma. "Remember, you can't give the beast the least chance to gain the upper hand; you have to show that you are the master and it is your slave."

"Hai Otousan."

"But it's really cute when you act like a kitty," Ukyou put in, earning her a punch in the arm, courtesy of her best friend. That punch escalated into a full-scale spar that quickly migrated outside, and Nodoka smiled, happy that her family was finally getting back to normal after this ordeal. Of course, she would have to punish the children for sparring in the house, but that was something that Nodoka could deal with later.

--

'This time,' Ranma thought, fiercely shoring up his courage, 'I will win!'

Without further thought, the pigtailed boy hopped into the pit, the cats predictably swarming him as soon as he landed. Finding himself once again facing his inner beast, and knowing exactly what was occurring, Ranma did not even feel fear; he was too angry.

"You're not going to win this time!" he shouted at the berserker personality, dropping immediately into a low combat crouch. Though the beast did not use words, Ranma could feel its confusion. It was almost as though the creature could not understand why its prey did not recognize his place.

With a growl, the tiger-like beast crouched, launching its black form at the pigtailed martial artist, but unlike the last time, Ranma caught the approaching claw, spinning and throwing the berserker past him in a classic Aikido technique. As per usual, the tiger landed on its feet and launched itself once again at the pigtailed boy, but Ranma was having none of it. Leaping into the air to meet his enemy, the young Saotome employed the hayabusa do to hang in the air, dealing out numerous telling blows before gravity could return him to the ground. True, the beast had gotten two good blows through his guard, raking lines of fire down either side of his chest, but it was obvious from the way the tiger limped after it got to its feet and Ranma had given better than he got.

The confusion rolling off the tiger actually began to have a tinge of fear when Ranma refused to give the beast a chance to recover, racing forward and landing a hard right knee on its flank. The force of the blow was enough to knock the berserker to the ground, and though it was somewhat contrary to his nature, hitting a downed foe, Ranma did not intend to ever let the beast have the upper hand again. As such, the pigtailed boy immediately landed a stomp on the tiger's left rear ankle, breaking the joint and causing the enemy of yowl in pain. After than, Ranma landed three hard kicks to the beast's midsection, but the emotions rolling off of the tiger, now fear and pain, stopped him from unloading a fourth.

Keeping his anger and determination to dominate the beast at the forefront of his mind, Ranma walked around to where the tiger's head was lying on the ground, and he grasped the creature with his left hand by the skin of its neck, lifting its head and directly looking into the eyes of the berserker with fire in his angry gaze.

"I am the master here," Ranma growled at the tiger, and when the beast made a half-hearted attempt to bite his face, Ranma didn't even flinch, restraining the action with his left arm and unloading a powerful slap with his right. Finally, Ranma felt what he desired: the berserker's emotional footprint in the strange mindscape was resigned, not longer seeming to think he was prey. Almost contemptuously, Ranma dropped the beast's head, turning away.

A spike in the beast's emotions warned him of the enemy's treachery a moment before the tiger got to its feet, intent on pouncing on the pigtailed boy from behind, but Ranma did not even bother to turn. Crouching ever so slightly, Ranma's leg pistoned out in a powerful back kick, catching the tiger full in the face and knocking the beast out. With a satisfied smirk, Ranma repeated himself. "Like I said, I am the master here."

With that, the black mindscape faded, and Ranma found himself in the pit, the many hungry cats cowering away from him, as though terrified.

--

When the commotion in the pit died down, both Genma and Ukyou rushed over to the side, looking down at a curious sight. Ranma was standing in the center of the pit, not acting like a cat, and all around him, the formerly angry cats were now doing their level best to get away from him, some even trying to climb the steep sides of the pit. A moment later, Ranma leapt from the bottom of the pit to land next to them.

"I did it," he said in a self-satisfied tone. "I defeated the beast."

Ukyou immediately ran over to him, throwing her arms around her best friend despite the dirt and blood that covered his lacerated body. "I'm just so glad this nightmare is over."

"Congratulations, son," said Genma, clapping him on the shoulder. "Let's get back to the house and tell your mother. I'm sure she'll want to celebrate."

It was three very happy martial artists that made their way back to the Saotome home in Sapporo, and with the dreadful training complete, they would no longer have to worry about listening to screams all day. Of course, as with any traumatic event, it would haunt the participants far longer than the events themselves lasted.

--

Author's Notes:

Well, I finally got this section written, and while it didn't turn out quite how I expected, that is half the fun of writing. I hope everyone likes how I portrayed the true Nekoken training, but if not, review and tell me about it. I know it wasn't very dark towards the end, but you had to know that this entire story wouldn't be dark. In any case, thanks for reading. Later all.


End file.
